14 
MAPS ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT. 
From Myrtle creek, in Umpqua valley, to Jacksonville, in Rogue River valley, our field 
work lias been checked by a sketch of the military road, located in 1853 by Brevet Major B. 
Alvord, 4th infantry. This sketch, which I think was never published, was kindly furnished 
by Major Alvord. 
The trail of Brevet Major II. W. Wessels, 2d infantry, on his expedition of 1852, from 
Sonoma to Humboldt Bay, and thence up Klamath river to the head of Scott’s river, has been, 
laid down from a rough copy of a sketch by George Gibbs, Esq., who accompanied the command 
as topographer. 
The topography near Rogue river, for about twenty-five miles above the mouth, has been 
taken from a sketch made by Lieut. J. G. Chandler, 3d artillery, to show the routes followed 
by the command of Brevet Lieut. Col. R. C. Buchanan, 4th infantry, during his campaign 
against the Indians in 1856. I am indebted to Colonel Buchanan for this sketch, which is now 
published for the first time. 
Lieut. Williamson formerly spent several years in California, attached to the staff of the 
commanding general. During this time he made many reconnaissances, the results of which 
were never published. Several of the trails have been laid down on our map from his original 
field notes. The latitudes of many points were fixed by astronomical observations, and the 
accuracy of the topography may be relied upon. They form a valuable addition to the map. 
His route from Yreka to Lower Klamath lake was surveyed in 1852, and that from Yreka, 
east of Shasta Butte, to the Sacramento valley, in 1851. The trail from Port Orford to Coquille 
and Rogue rivers, and thence to the settled portion of Rogue River valley, was examined in 
1851 and 1852. A small portion of this trail was explored by Lieut. George Stoneman, 1st 
dragoons. In 1849, Lieut. Williamson accompanied Captain W. H. Warner, Topographical 
Engineers, on the disastrous expedition on which he was killed by the Indians, near Goose 
lake. Lieut. Williamson prepared a map of the regions traversed, and the upper portion of Pit 
river, with the vicinity, has been reduced from the original sketch upon our map. 
PROFILES ACCOMPANYING THE REPORT. 
Two sheets of profiles have been constructed to illustrate this report. They contain profiles of 
the most important portions of the routes travelled over by the surveying parties, and also of 
the most favorable railroad lines found in the vicinity of the trails. The horizontal scale of 
each profile is the same as that of the maps, being twelve miles to the inch, or 1:160320 ; the 
vertical scale is 1:15206.4. They are, therefore, distorted fifty times. 
The altitudes of the different stations were all determined by barometric observations. The 
method by which they have been computed is fully explained in the sixth chapter of this 
report, and the original data are given in Appendix D. 
It only remains to notice discrepancies between the results of this survey and those of former 
surveys with which it connects. Gov. Stevens gives 51.6 feet for the altitude of Columbia 
barracks above the level of the sea. That the fort should not be higher than this above the 
Columbia appeared incredible to me when there ; and as it is situated nearly 100 miles above 
the mouth of the river, there can be, I think, no doubt that this altitude is too low. The 
height of Lieut. Williamson’s camp, situated upon the river bluff opposite the barracks, 
and sixty feet above the water surface, was shown, by numerous observations, to be 105 feet. 
1 have been unable to find, in any part of Gov. Stevens’ report, the height of Fort Dalles. 
The altitude of 350 feet, however, is given in the Army Meteorological Register as that 
