110 LLANO EST AC ADO 



the enterprise was subscribed in one day, is eminently significant of the 

 fact, and affords substantial evidence of the confidence of capitalists in 

 the feasibility of the scheme, and an abundant pledge for its early and 

 successful accomplishment. That the road will be constructed, but few 

 at this time entertain a doubt ; the only question that remains to be 

 determined is, where is the best and most advantageous route ? 



The several exploring parties that have been sent across the continent 

 in different latitudes, will undoubtedly place the department in posses- 

 sion of all the infoimation required concerning the country over which 

 the limited amount of the appropriation, and time, enabled them to pass ; 

 but as a large portion of the district over which I have travelled will 

 not come within the scope of their reconnoissances, my remarks may 

 serve to throw some light upon the subject, which cannot be obtained 

 from other sources, and thus add to the general stock of information so 

 earnestly sought after at this particular period. 



The district of country to which my attention has been directed is 

 embraced^ithin the 32d and 36th parallels of latitude, and the 95th 

 and lO^th meridians of longitude ; and is bounded upon the north by 

 the Canadian river, and upon the west by the Rio Grande. A great 

 portion of this vast domain, containing nearly thirty-two thousand square 

 miles, was previous to 1849 almost wholly unknown, except to the 

 native occupants. 



One of the most prominent features which strikes the eye of the 

 beholder on an examination of this section, is the very remarkable uni- 

 formity of its surface, and the almost total absence of those abrupt and 

 rugged primitive mountain ranges which in many other parts of our 

 country offer such formidable obstacles to the pass-age of railways. But 

 few mountains are seen throughout this region, and those few are so little 

 elevated that they present but trifling obstructions when compared with 

 many that are found in the eastern States. This section is, however, 

 traversed throughout, nearly its wrfble length, by the lofty plateau of the 

 "Llano estacado," which, as will be observed upon the map, stretches 

 out from the 3 2d to the 36th parallel of latitude, and is, in places, two 

 hundred miles wide, without a tree or running stream throughout its 

 entire surface, and presents, in my judgment, an impassable barrier to 

 a wagon road ; and I am fully impressed with the belief that a route 

 crossing this desert anywhere between the 33d parallel of latitude and 

 its northern limits will never be selected for a Pacific railway, or, indeed, 

 a road of any description. South of this parallel the plain becomes less 

 elevated above the adjacent country, and finally merges into the lands 

 bordering the Pecos and the head branches of the Colorado. 



