ROUTE NEAR THE THIRTY-EIGHTH AND THIRTY-NINTn PARALLELS. 
19 
of Lieutenant Beckwith, that, to use his own language, u no other line exists in the imme¬ 
diate vicinity of this, worthy of any attention in connexion with the construction of a railroad 
from the Mississippi river to the Great Basin.” 
It is unnecessary, therefore, to consider the route further, or to enter into any discussion 
connected with the probable practicability and cost of constructing and working a railroad over 
other portions of the route where counterbalancing advantages are not found to compensate, in 
any degree, for the enormous cost of that under consideration. 
Laying aside the utterly impracticable nature of this route, the following considerations 
will show its disadvantages as regards expenses of working, supposing it constructed : 
From Westport to the west base of the Un-kuk-oo-ap mountains is 1,323 miles; sum of 
ascents, 23,190 feet; of descents, 19,052 feet; length of equivalent horizontal line for the route, 
2,123 miles. 
Of the direct route from the point at the -western base of the Un-kuk-oo-ap mountains, 
near where the survey under Capt. Gunnison terminated, to the Tali-ee-chay-pah Pass, there 
is no survey or positive information. There is every reason to belive that it is, for the most 
part, a desert of the same general character as other portions of the Great Basin. Supposing 
the route to be a straight line, with uniform descent from the Un-kuk-oo-ap mountains to 
the entrance of the Tay-ee-chay-pali Pass, in latitude 35° 5', (no pass being known to be prac¬ 
ticable to the north of it in this portion of the Sierra Nevada,) the distance will be 430 miles, 
and the descent 1,830 feet; the equated horizontal distance, 464 miles. 
From the entrance of the Tay-ee-ehay-pah Pass to San Francisco is 326 miles; sum of 
ascents, 1,308 feet; sum of descents, 4,608 feet; equated length, 440 miles. Adding these 
together, with the equated distance from the mouth of the Kansas to the west base of the 
Un-kuk-oo-ap mountains, we have the total equated distance from Westport to San Francisco, 
3,027 miles—the length of the straight horizontal line, which supposes no obstacle to be 
avoided, being only 1,500 miles. 
The distance from Sevier river to Great Salt lake is 120 miles; sum of ascents and descents, 
1,600 feet; equated distance, 150 miles; thence to Benicia, by the route near the 41st parallel, 
explored by Lieut. Beckwith, is 872 miles; sum of ascents and descents, 15,200 feet: making 
the equivalent horizontal line 1,160 miles; which added to the equated distance from West- 
port to Sevier river, 2,050 miles, we have a total of 3,360 miles, as the equated distance by 
this route from Westport to Benicia. 
Neither in soil, climate, productions, population, nor in any other respect, does it possess 
advantages superior to other routes favoring the construction and working of a railroad. 
The exploration of this route, conducted by Capt. Gunnison, of the Corps of Topographical 
Engineers, exhibits the high professional skill and sound judgment which characterized that 
officer. The extensive and reliable information which he collected, and the exact manner in 
which his operations were conducted, up to the period when he lost his life in the discharge of 
his duty, show how thoroughly he would have completed the task he had commenced, and 
how great a loss the service sustained in his untimely death. Several of his civil assistants 
fell with him, and the charge of the survey devolved upon Lieut. Beckwith, of the artillery, 
who has made, from the field-notes left by Capt. Gunnison, a thorough report of his explora¬ 
tions. Satisfied of the impracticability of the line he had traversed, Lieut. Beckwith com¬ 
menced an exploration eastward from the Great Salt lake, to connect that position with the 
line of the 41st parallel, and then returning to Salt lake, continued the survey westward to 
the waters of the Pacific. This work, in all its parts, has been well done, and the topography 
well represented. More than ordinary credit is due to this officer, as the task performed by 
him was not in the line of his usual duties, and was executed without the aid of assistants, and 
with the means left to the party after a season of field operations. 
