CHAPTER III. 
ROUTE NEAR THE THIRTY-EIGHTH AND THIRTY-NINTH PARALLELS OP NORTH LATITUDE. 
The general consideration that determined the position of the route to he examined near 
the 38th and 39th parallels of latitude, was its central position geographically—it being about 
midway between the northern and southern boundary lines of the United States—which is 
likewise the position, nearly, of the Bay of San Francisco, the two termini of the route, St. Louis 
and San Francisco, being respectively in latitudes 39° and 38°, nearly. 
A route near these parallels would probably give the shortest road from the Bay of San 
Francisco to the navigable waters of the Mississippi. 
But, since the only passes in the Sierra Nevada practicable for a railroad, yet made known, 
are found in latitudes 41° and 35°, this advantage of centrality of position is lost upon entering 
the Great Basin, in longitude 112° or 113°. 
Neither do the features of the country, from and including the Rocky mountains to the Great 
Basin, favor the construction of a railroad along this line, recommended by considerations 
connected with its central geographical position, for the elevation of the two passes through 
the Rocky mountains, the Sangre de Cristo and Coo-che-to-pa, 9,200 feet and 10,000 feet, are the 
highest known practicable for a railroad, exceeding by 4,000 feet and 5,000 feet the highest 
mountain pass on the route near the 32d parallel, and by 3,000 feet and 4,000 feet the elevation 
of the passes on the route near the 47th parallel; and from the Rocky mountains westward to 
the Great Basin, 500 miles, the country is so broken, and the difficulties of construction so 
great, and the expense would he so enormous, that the building of a railroad over this portion 
may he pronounced impracticable. 
In neither soil, climate, productions, nor population, nor from any other cause, does it 
possess advantages superior to other routes, favoring the construction and working of a railroad. 
The concluding chapter of Lieutenant Beckwith’s report upon the route from Westport to 
Sevier lake recapitulates so clearly and forcibly the characteristics of the country through 
which it passes, the nature of the soil, climate, and topographical features, the amount and 
quality of timber, fuel, stone, &c., with their hearing upon the construction and working of a 
railroad, that nothing remains to he added to it. 
It appears that from the western frontier of the State of Missouri to the Sangre de Christo 
Pass, 650 miles, no timber suitable for railroad purposes will be found upon the route upon 
which reliance can he placed; that from the Coo-che-to-pa Pass to the Great Basin, more than 
500 miles, there is no growth of timber on the route, and that such as exists in the mountains 
north and south of the line is too difficult of access to he available; nor is any to he found in 
the Great Basin on the route as far as followed towards Sevier lake, the nearest known supplies 
being in the mountains to the north, in latitude 40° or 41°. With building stone generally, 
it is, like the other routes, sufficiently well supplied. Of water, there is a sufficient supply 
on the whole route, except between Grand and Green rivers, a distance of 70 miles, over which 
at certain periods of the year it is probable little or none can he obtained. 
The soil west of the meridian of 99° is, under the present meteorological conditions, unculti- 
vable, except in limited portions of river bottoms and small mountain valleys; these latter, 
from their great elevation, being better adapted to grazing than agricultural purposes. This 
description is completely in accordance with the geological formation and meteorological con- 
