INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
Washington, D. C., November 25, 1854. 
Sir : In submitting to the department the accompanying report of the explorations for a Pacific 
railroad, conducted, up to the time of his death, (at the hands of the Indians,) by the late Captain 
J. W. Gunnison, Topographical Engineers, it is proper that I shall state that I have preferred the 
journal form in which to embody the labors of the party and the minute and general descriptions 
of the country, required by the specific object of the survey, as affording greater facilities for 
introducing the observations and conclusions of Captain Gunnison, in his own language, than 
could have been secured in any other form. I have intentionally adhered to details and repe¬ 
titions, however monotonous, by which alone a faithful description of this great interior country 
can be presented; for, monotonous as it is in itself, and far removed from general fertility, no 
general description not made up of facts constantly repeated can convey a true picture of the 
country explored—an object deemed of the first importance in this report, in which I have 
endeavored to exhaust the material obtained for it, for which too much credit cannot be given to 
Captain Gunnison. 
The report was written, in great haste, at Great Salt Lake, immediately after reaching that 
city, and forwarded to you on the 1st of February, 1854, but has been revised and materially 
improved since my return to this city. The computation of altitudes has been conducted since 
my arrival in Washington under the superintendence of Mr. Lorin Blodget, and the barometrical 
observations discussed by him with great care and superior intelligence, which will be apparent 
by a reference to his notes and the tables in this report. 
I am, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant, 
E. G. BECKWITH, 
Hon. Jefferson Davis, 
Secretary of War. 
First Lieutenant 3 d Artillery. 
