INTRODUCTION. 
XV 
A. L. Heermann, as surgeon and naturalist, and W. P. Blake, as geologist, proceeded to San 
Francisco by sea, where it was fitted out. Passing up the San Joaquin and the Tulare valley, they 
also explored the region about Walker’s pass, the Tejon and other passes, and portions of 
the Mohave and Colorado rivers. 
5. Line op the 32d parallel, west, under Lieutenant J. G-. Parke. —After the completion of 
Lieutenant Williamson’s survey, Lieutenant Parke, who had accompanied him as assistant, 
proceeded by way of Warner’s ranch to Fort Yuma, and up the Gila to the Pimo and Maricopa 
villages, thence by way of Tucson, the Copper Mines, (Fort Webster,) and Dona Ana, to El 
Paso. From this point the party returned to Washington hy way of San Antonio. 
6. Line op the 32d parallel, east, under Captain J. Pope. —This party started from El Paso, 
and proceeded in almost a straight line eastward to Preston, on Red river, passing through the 
Guadalupe mountains. The Pecos was crossed at the mouth of Delaware Creek, and the Llano 
Estacado traversed for a distance of T25 miles. 
The most important collections of this party were made on the Llano Estacado, and on the 
headwaters of the Brazos and Colorado. Captain Pope also brought with him collections made 
on the Mimbres and at Fort Thorn, by Dr. T. C. Henry, U. S. Army. 
The preceeding lines are those organized or detailed for duty in the year 1853. Subsequent 
parties, however, were from time to time sent out by the War Department, either to verify old 
routes or to determine new ones ; of which the following are those yielding natural history 
results: 
7. California and Oregon line, under Lieutenant Williamson. —This expedition, accom¬ 
panied by Lieutenant Abbot, as assistant, and Dr. J. S. Newberry, as geologist, and 
naturalist, proceeded to San Francisco by sea, in May, 1855, and, after its full organization, 
commenced the exploration of the Cascade mountains, on both sides, to the Columbia river. 
The principal points on the route where collections were made, were Fort Reading, Klamath 
lake, Cascade Mountains, Canoe creek, Pit river, Des Chutes river, the Willamette, &c. 
8. Line op the 32d parallel and California, under Lieutenant J. G. Parke. —This explora¬ 
tion, accompanied ^by Dr. Antisell, as surgeon and geologist, was chiefly occupied in a revision 
of the lines over which Lieutenant Parke had passed in 1853 and 1854. 
In addition to the collections of the expeditions mentioned above, there have been embodied in 
this report the results of several other explorations made under the War Department, and more 
or less intimately connected with the solution of the great western railroad problem. These 
are as follows: 
9. The exploration op the Llano Estacado, in 1854- 56, by Captain Pope. —This expedition 
was occupied in the western part of Texas and New Mexico in ascertaining the possibility of 
obtaining water in the deserts of the west by means of artesian borings. The collections were 
made chiefly at Indianola, Guadalupe bottom, San Antonio, Devil’s fiver, the crossing of 
the Pecos at Delaware creek, Waco Tanks, El Paso, Dona Ana, &c. 
10. The Exploration of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone, by Lieutenant G. K. Warren. 
This exploration was made in 1856, and extended along the Missouri river to a point eighty 
miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone, and up the Yellowstone to Powder river. Collec¬ 
tions were made at all points along the route. Dr. F. Y. Hayden acted as surgeon, geologist, 
and naturalist to the party. 
11. Construction op wagon road from Fort Riley to Bridger’s Pass, in 1856, by Lieutenant 
F. T. Bryan. —This party was accompanied by W. S. Wood, as collector and naturalist, 
