'I 



I 



mW TEACKS IN NOETH AMEBIC A. 



INTRODUCTION 



I. 



SKETCH OF TEE TtOUTE. 



In tlie spring of 18 G 7 a very extensive siu'veying expedition 

 "was organised by the Kansas Pacitic Eailway Company, 

 in order to determine upon tlie best route for a sontliem 

 railway to the Pacific coast through KansaSj Coloradoj "New 

 Mexico, Arizona, and the southern part of California. Until 

 the Hio Grande !del Norte (about equidistant from the 

 Mississippi and the Pacific) had been reached, three separate 

 surveying parties were required ; but between that river and 

 the Pacific coast, no less than five parties, each capable of 

 maldiig an accurate instrumental survey, were employed, and 

 crossed that part of the continent by different routes on 



"w " 



ifi'ercnt parallels of latitude. The United States Govern- 



) 



'lent, by 



furnishing escorts 



3 



and transportation, rendered 

 sistance without which such an undertaking would at that 

 A;ilme have been impossible, for most of the Indian tribes 

 Vere at war with the whites. 



C 



Through the 



kindness of some of my friends in Phila- 



1 B 



[elphia, I became attached to this expedition ; but not until 



i 



f 



