5 
EXTRACTS FROM [PRELIMINARY] REPORT. 
From this place it might rise gradually along the face of the bluff behind San Felipe, and so 
around the point of bluff to the village of Santa Anna ; from which place a good route exists, 
entering the valley of Cibolleta from the northeast, and then emerging from the Cibolleta 
valley about five miles below Laguna. This route would save descending and again ascending 
several hundred feet, that would be necesssary were the road to pass though Albuquerque.” 
The various explorations above referred to, in connexion with our own, show a generally 
uniform slope, embracing the area in question, from the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the 
river Mississippi. Over such a country several different routes for a railway, doubtless, with 
greater or less facility, might be selected. It would have been interesting to have prolonged 
these various routes to a common intersection ; but to attempt it would be to hazard the com¬ 
pletion of the main duties with which we were charged. Contenting ourselves, therefore, with 
such information as might be gained from extraneous sources, we hastened to Fort Smith, the 
most western point, near the parallel of 35° north latitude, then accessible by steam navigation. 
Upon the Pacific coast San Francisco possesses all those advantages upon which a great com¬ 
mercial emporium depends. Its position is central with respect to our possessions there, and it 
possesses a harbor of unrivalled magnificence, lying at the confluence of the Sacramento and 
San Joaquin rivers, which drain great valleys of unsurpassed fertility. These streams are 
navigable, and the banks are lined with excellent timber. Dense forests cover hills and moun¬ 
tains ; mines of gold and quicksilver yield unprecedent returns ; and, to crown all, the climate 
is mild and salubrious during every season of the year. Such are some of the superior advantages 
which seem to render imperative the termination of the great Pacific railway at the port of San 
Francisco. 
Should local interests secure the construction of the main road direct to a frontier harbor— 
San Diego or Puget’s Sound—or to other smaller ports, trade could scarcely be forced from its 
natural channel. By a branch through the Sacramento valley, northeast, or by the San 
Joaquin river and Tulare lake, southwest, a junction would probably be formed with the main 
railway, in order to obtain the great desideratum of an uninterrupted communication through¬ 
out. Commerce demands that this communication should be obtained by the shortest available 
route. Northeast and east from San Francisco, the Sierra Nevada forms an impassable barrier. 
Nearly all the known passes are concentrated near the latitude of 35°, where the interference of 
the coast range with Sierra Nevada has produced a succession of low broken ridges, with valleys 
between. Here was to be sought the gate to San Francisco, and an opening for the trade of 
the Pacific waters. Upon the same parallel west of the Mississippi, is a union of interests from 
eastern States. It was our duty to unite these points, and ascertain whether a route known to 
possess so many substantial advantages might not prove favorable throughout. 
The accompanying maps, profiles, and tables, are designed to condense, as well as possible, all the 
facts developed by the exploration; or at least those having a intimate connexion with the question 
of a railway. The full red line marks the trace of our wagons, to one of which a viameter was 
attached for measuring the distances traversed, accompanied by the surveying party observing 
courses and altitudes. The profile No. 1 gives a section upon this line. In such hasty opera¬ 
tions it was not expected that such a profile would, in all cases, be shown favorable for a rail¬ 
way. To have attempted to wind around the hill-slopes, where a track should be laid, would 
have occupied much more time than we had at our disposal. But in order to correct the actual 
profile to that which the contour of the ground showed to be practicable, topographical notes 
and sketches were carefully made, and the concluding results are shown in profile No.2. The 
dotted red lines indicate trails of reconnoitering parties. Blue lines coincide nearly with section 
No. 2. Dotted blue lines represent the general direction of routes which, from indications, are 
supposed to be more favorable than those traversed. It would be desirable to examine them 
more closely. 
As detailed information is given upon the profiles regarding the gradients required, 1 pro- 
