ROUTE 13Y WAY OF SAN FELIPE CANON. 
23 
60 feet per mile for 21.98 miles, to the watering place at Cariso creek; thence to Sackett’s wells 
the grade is nearly horizontal, a distance of 15 miles, avoiding the ridges over which the wagon 
road now passes, and nearly following the course of the creek. 
At Sackett’s wells the supply of water is abundant, and is derived from holes sunk in an 
arroya or bed of a stream leading into the channel of Cariso creek. This point is fairly on the 
open plain of the desert, and should this route he selected for the road it will prove one of the 
most important and valuable water stations on the entire line. 
From Sackett’s to the Colorado river the desert appears to the unaided eye a perfect level, 
hut it is shown to be undulating, and composed of several gentle slopes or swells of surface 
rising to a level terrace in the vicinity of Alamo Mocho. 
The two “lagoons” on the desert being now dry, water is obtained from a well dug in the 
channel which connects them, at a point about half way between, and 14.5 miles from Sackett’s. 
This watering place is known by the name of “ Indian Wells.” The water is at a depth of 
about 30 feet, and is of tolerable quality. 
From here to Alamo Mocho is a stretch of 20 miles without water, over a surface generally 
even and free of obstructions. From the Alamo wells to Cook’s well is another space of 20 
miles in a direct line, the soil being chiefly a coarse gravel, intermixed with sand. From 
Cook’s well to the Colorado river at Pilot Knob the road lies along the valley or “ bottom” of 
the river, a distance of 14 miles, mostly through a thick growth of mesquite, willow, and cotton¬ 
wood. From Pilot Knob to Fort Yuma, opposite the mouth of the Gila, is seven miles, making 
the total distance by this line from tide water at the hay of San Diego to the proposed crossing 
at the fort 200 miles and a half. 
The character of the portion of the desert just described is now so well known that it is 
needless to enlarge upon it, and with the simple statement I am enabled to make from frequent 
examinations and intimate acquaintance with the ground, that three-fourths of the distance is 
already graded and prepared by nature for the reception of the rails , I take leave of the subject 
without further remark. 
PROPOSED ROUTE BY WAY OF SAN FELIPE CANON. 
A mere inspection of the route through the pass which drains the valley of San Felipe would 
not, probably, lead an observer to the conclusion that it is adapted to railroad purposes, and it 
was only after the difficulties of the line on the wagon road became apparent that attention 
was specially directed to it as a possible substitute. A careful survey of this pass, with the 
chain and level, demonstrated the following facts : Its length by the windings of the creek is 
2.67 miles. The difference of level of its two extremities is 437.30 feet, and the average slope 
of the creek is, therefore, 162.5 feet to a mile. The level station, at the entrance of the canon, 
is at least ten feet higher than the necessary elevation of the proposed road bed, and that at 
the outlet can he raised, say 150 feet, by following the side hill, so that the resulting grade will 
he reduced to the practicable limit of 103 feet per mile for the two and a half miles. 
The side slopes of the pass present a ragged and rocky appearance, nearly identical with 
those of the Cajon Gap, near the mission of San Diego, and the two passes are nearly equal as 
to their length, breadth, and curves. They are so clearly similar that both must be accepted 
or rejected together. 
