86 
EXTRACTS FROM LANDER S REPORT. 
seventeen inches of water, and carrying four hundred passengers with their baggage; and of the 
Alleghany river, in Pennsylvania, and the Little Tombigbee, in Alabama. 
Moreover, I have submitted‘the practical difficulties of the navigation of the Missouri, with its 
currents, rapids, sand-bars, and sudden deflections, to the consideration of experienced men, who 
have been the pioneers on these rivers, and are skilled both in the construction and the running 
of boats, and they are satisfied that steamers of very considerable tonnage, and carrying many 
passengers, can be used on this river the entire distance to the vicinity of the Falls. 
The following extracts from the reports of Messrs. Lander and Tinkham, giving the results 
of personal examinations between the headwaters of the Mississippi and the Rocky mountains, 
are here given as highly descriptive of the characteristic features of this portion of the route. 
1 . Extracts from Mr. Lander's report of February 1 5th, 1854.—The road from Bois des Sioux 
to the head of the Coteau du Missouri should pass north of the Coteau des Prairies, near Dead 
Colt Hillock, along the dividing ridge between the Jacques and Shayenne rivers to the headwaters 
of the Jacques, and avoid the bad crossings of the Shayenne river, which occur on the line 
of the odometer survey. There is a scarcity of timber upon the route ; but lignite coal is found 
in quantity in the valley of the Mouse river, and, by the use of proper blast in furnaces, may 
become -of service. Cotton-wood occurs in the valley of the Shayenne, although it is not abun¬ 
dant. The soil upon the line is fertile; groves of timber can be readily grown during the period 
required for grading the road. Sufficient stone for culvert masonry can be found among the 
boulders upon the hill-sides in the vicinity of the Shayenne river, and the line will pass suffi¬ 
ciently near the Shayenne to secure the advantages to be derived from its valley, either in pastur¬ 
age, timber, or stone for culvert masonry. Twenty miles west of the “ Maison du Chien” occur 
ledges of sandstone, from which excellent materials for masonry may be furnished for long sections 
of the road. At the headwaters of the Shayenne, and at the Dead Colt Hillock and “Lightning’s 
Nest,” fine material for ballasting may be found—a fact of much importance to this division of the 
road, which, passing over low prairie country and in cutting through a pebbly limestone gravel 
mixed with clay, will need ballasting throughout. The portion extending through the salt¬ 
water region will need particular attention, regarding a supply of pure water for the use of 
engines. The proper mode of overcoming this difficulty will be, by extending an aqueduct along 
the line of the road from the lakes upon the Grand Coteau du Missouri. 
As the line will skirt the northern extremity of the Grand Coteau, the location of this work will 
not be difficult. Good brick-clay is found near the Maison du Chien, and the upland lakes of 
that vicinity are of sufficient height above the grade of the road to afford the requisite facility. 
I recommend a descent from the head of the Grand Coteau to the valley of Milk river by the 
Grand Coulee. It would by a spur road easily connect with Fort Union. From the Big Muddy 
the line would pass to the valley of Milk river, through which it continues for a long distance to 
a point of departure north of Bear’s Paw mountain, and thence along the north bank of the 
Marias to the great valley of the Dry Branch; then crossing the Marias, makes ascent through the 
valley of the Dry Branch in a southwesterly direction towards the grand approaches of Lewis 
and Clark’s Pass of the Rocky mountains, crossing the headwaters of Teton, Sun, and Beaver 
rivers. Grizzly Bear lake, lying between the headwaters of the Sun and Beaver rivers, can be 
formed into an unfailing reservoir for supplying the line, by the erection of a dam at its lower 
extremity, and by turning the-water of a small mountain stream into the lake. 
The line passes near Grizzly Bear lake, and for several miles the grade is a gentle descent 
towards the Marias river. 
By the use of the yellow mountain pine, abundant in the vicinity, a line of logs could be laid 
along the route, and furnish water to the road for the supply of the engines and the employes— 
the temporary structure eventually superseded by proper iron castings or brickwork. Good 
brick-clay is found in quantity near Grizzly Bear lake. 
All difficulties of construction may be overcome upon this important division at reasonable 
