PLAN OF CONSTRUCTION OF ROAD. 
143 
a first-class road of the broad gauge, with substantial bridges, could be constructed in five years, 
with the single exception of the tunnel through the Snoqualme Pass, should the long one be 
adopted, and that for this tunnel an additional year would be required. 
It will be necessary to wait till the road is located throughout its whole extent before com¬ 
mencing operations on the various lines. For the portion east of the Bois des Sioux, with a vig¬ 
orous and well-directed party, the road can be located in a portion of one season, and the 
whole line east of the Mississippi, and some one hundred miles west, be actually finished, and 
the cars in operation, before the difficult interior sections are well entered on. Rails can be laid 
at nearly the rate of one mile per day, and the grading and bridge structures over the crossing 
of the Mississippi at the Little Falls are comparatively easy and unimportant. 
I am of opinion, that in two years after vigorously commencing operations, a communication 
can be made between the Columbia valley and Puget sound, and that the rail can be laid from 
the post on the Columbia to the Pend d’Oreille lake, and a new section, the third year, opened 
from the Horse Plains; and that the vigorous prosecution of all the sections for three years would 
enable the cars to be put in motion from the Mississippi to the tunnel of the Rocky mountains, 
and from the post on the Columbia to some distance beyond Horse Plain. 
This consideration gives importance to the Jocko route, which is shorter and has less difficult 
work than the Bitter Root route. Assuming the Jocko route as a basis, the line could be extended 
the third year, reliable arrangements having been made to throw laborers ahead and accom¬ 
modate them on different points, to the crossing of Clark’s fork, by the Jocko route. 
Thus, allowing two years for locating, in three years a thorough communication could be 
established, except for the link extending from the Rocky mountain tunnel to the crossing of 
Clark’s fork, a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles. 
The wagon road, already adverted to as indispensable along the whole line, should, the third 
year, be constructed into a first-class stage road, and the -fourth year, with the aid of stage¬ 
coaches moving one hundred miles a day, (perfectly practicable with good roads, relays of horses 
every ten miles, and the supplies of forage which the beautiful valleys of the St. Mary’s alone 
can furnish,) a thorough communication can be established by which passengers from New York 
can reach the valley of the Columbia in nine and San Francisco in twelve days. In two more 
years the whole line will be opened for the rail. If a practicable route can be got through the 
Cascades with the short tunnel, the trunk line to Puget sound will be opened at the same 
time. If with the long tunnel one year more will be required. 
It must be observed, as regards these two tunnels, they each can be operated upon in nearly 
equal sections ; and that, as regards time, the principal difference will be the greater length of 
that shaft of the long tunnel, which must be sunk before the sections are operated on. 
In estimating the cost of the road, I have, from the Bois des Sioux to the Rocky mountains, 
added twenty-five per cent, to the cost at eastern prices, and thence to the Pacific forty per 
cent. This will be an ample allowance for the increased price of labor and of the transportation 
of supplies. 
The following details of construction are the basis of the estimate : Tunnels to be made for 
a double track, and have a cross section of -. The gauge of the road to be six feet. The 
road-bed to be elevated four feet east of the Rocky mountains and three feet west of the mount¬ 
ains, and the work in all respects to be of the most substantial character. The weight of rail 
to be seventy pounds to the yard. The bridging and culverts to be of stone or durable timber. 
From St. Paul to the Bois des Sioux: 
This passes essentially through a prairie and well-wooded country, with no expensive bridging 
or culvert masonry, or heavy excavations and embankments. This portion, making allowance 
for the broad gauge and increased care in road-beds, will not cost more than existing roads in 
Illinois and Wisconsin. 
