University of Oklahoma College of Law University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 1-25-1861 Military road from Fort Benton to Fort Walla-Walla. Letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting the report of Lieutenant Mullan, in charge of the construction of the military road from Fort Benton to Fort Walla-Walla. Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/indianserialset Part of the Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons Recommended Citation H.R. Exec. Doc. No. 44, 36th Cong., 2nd Sess. (1861) This House Executive Document is brought to you for free and open access by University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 by an authorized administrator of University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact darinfox@ou.edu. 36TH CONGRESS, 1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 5 Ex. Doc. 2d Session. S . i No. 44. MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT BENTON TO FORT WALLA-W ALLA. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR, TRANSMITTING The report of Lieutenant JJiullan, in charge of the construction of the military road from Fort Benton to Fort Walla-Walla. JANUARY 25, 1861.-Referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, and ordered to be printed. WAR DEPARTMENT, January 23, 1861. Sm: I have the honor to transmit herewith a communication from the officer in charge of the Office of Explorations and Surveys, accom-panied by a copy of the paper called for in the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 18th ultimo, by which the Secretary of War is requested "to communicate to the House the reports of Lieutenant John Mullan, United States army, of his operations in charge of the wagon road from Fort Benton to the Walla-Walla.'' -Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. HOLT, Secretary ff War. Hon. ,vrLLIAM PENNINGTON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS, Washington, January 22, 1861. Srn: I have the honor to submit herewith the reports of Lieutenant John Mullan, United States army, upon his operations in ch.arge of the construction of the military road from Fort Benton to Fort Walla-W alla, called for by a resolution of the House of Representatives of December 18, 1860. 'l'he reports are numbered from I to XVII · the sub-reports, from assistants, are marked from A to T. ' Very respectfully, your obedient servant, A.A.HUMPHREYS Oaptain Top'l Engineers, in charge. Hon. J. HoLT, Secretary of War. 2 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT I. CAMP ON SNAKE RIVER, w. T., Opposite mouth of Toukanon, July 3, 1859. Srn: I have delayed until the present date and place to give you the details concerning my movements, in order that I might be en-abled to let you know that we were well underway. Arriving at the Dalles on May 10, I organized by 25th, moving into a temporary camp on the Five and Ten Miles creek, where we :remained until June 8, when I took up a line of March for Fort Walla-W alla, reaching that point on the 22d instant, where I tarried for a few days for repairs, &c. Here my escort joined me, it having gone forward, via the Columbia river, to Fort Wall a-Wall a. This escort is com posed of 100 men, 3d artillery, under Lieutenant White, commanding, Lieutenants Howard and Lyon. We moved from vValla-Walla on the morning of the 25th of June. I would state that on our way to Walla-Walla from the Dalles my party worked and improved the road from day to day, facilitating thus not only our own progress, but so materially improved the road-which, in consequence of high water, had become much damaged at many points--that future travel in the interior must reap its benefits. Frorn Fort \Valla northward, both on account of wood, water, andjgrass, and the general character of the country, I was led to locate the road to the mouth of the Toukanon, (Fort Taylor of last year,) 3 miles east of the mouth of the Pe]ouse. Private interests have been at work to induce me to locate more to the west, in order that ferries, &c., now established on the river, might be availed of, but looking!to_.an eastern connExion and the favorable character of the country, and excellent wood, grass, and water; and at short intervals this location has every advantage, whereas the one by the Pelouse crossing involves a 26 miles' march without water or wood. Moving, then, on the 25th for the mouth of the Toukanon, our work began. vVe crossed the dry creek, repairing here a bridge and estab-lishing a camp ; marked it by a post buried three feet in the ground, and marked this M. R.,. (military road,) 9 miles. :Moving still northward across the Touchet, improving and work-ing the road from point to point, we encamped upon its banks for two days, and threw over it a strong, substantial bridge, built of the only timber at hane put under way and completed in the field if possible. In addition to gaining this desideratum, much attention was given to the meteorology of the place, the different moun· tain peaks measured, and much topographical information gained. I express my thanks to Mr. Kollecki and Mr. Weisner, under whose general charge this has been done. A. small party unarty at t~is pomt. He found the lake embosomed in a rugged bend of mountams, SOIJ?e seventy miles around, and, in places, one hundred feet deep, and m other places could find no bottom. There is no low land around the lake whatever. Nothing but high, rugged, pine-clad mountains girt it on every side. He, with Mr. Weisner, will go to-morrow by water with the barge to the Cceur d'Alene Mission, to t~ere put up their transit and prepare for the approaching culminations they will_ be enabled to observe there for once a month, as our progress eastward from that point must be slow and tedious. We are now some ten miles below the forks of the St. Joseph's, and, in order to ascertain the true character of the country near its headwaters, I have directed Mr. Engle and Mr. Sobon to proceed early to-morrow morning, exploring both forks, and to join me on the Cceur d'Alene river. · The party under Mr. Howard has not yet joined me, but I expect them every day. When I last heard from Mr. Howard (July 11) he was still sick in bed at Fort Walla-Walla, with a swelling in his groin. The accident to our level has been repaired and the party resumed work, and by this time must have finished, and will soon join me. It has taken them longer than anticipated, but their accidents have been unavoidable. This will give you, therefore, a. general exhibit of all the work done, or now in progre:-is up to date, with the exception of Mr. Sohon's examination from the Tatuna Hill north and eastward. As I informed you in my last communication, thinking that the road spoken of by the Indians, if practicable, would be our best line for the Bitter Root valley, I moved Mr. Sobon forward to its examina-tion . He reached the camas plains of the Coour d'Alene on the 19th of June. Here he was to obtain a guide. Instead of finding the Indian true to his word, he was absent afar in the mountains. Another In-dian , pretending to know somewhat of the route, proposed to guide him. Taking this man as a guide, he led him over mountains impracticable for a wagon road to the south fork of the St. Joseph's. Here the country became more favorable, but the Indian here meeting his brother and others of his tribe, became reluctant to lead him further, and in-deed went so far as to discuss and plan mischief to Mr. Sohon but who, fortu~ately u~de:standing ~omewhat_of their l~nguage, disco~ered the plot laid for his life, and with a credita1:>le policy extricated him-self from their pla~s. Having learned the imminent danger to which he was _exposed,. with two men I hastened an ex~re_ss to him to rejoin me, which he did at the mout~ of the ~oc~hhssiah. His trip de-veloped one fact, that a route m that direct10n is impracticable and out of the question, and I have since learned was only spoken of by the Indians in order that we should follow it, and thus expend the 10 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT season in doing nothing. The Creur d'Alene Indians, though whipped last year by Colonel Wright, are still treacherous and faithless; it is only by the most wutchful and rigid course that we are not led into difficulty with them. I have enjoined upon the men from time to time the most rigid prudence, and nothing shall be left undone that will g~ to promote the most friendly relations with thi~ and other neigh~~rrng tribes. The Indians have all been restless since we have been m the country, but are now becoming more tranquil. I avail myself of every occasion to impress them with the advantages that must accrue to them on the opening of our road, and, indeed, many of them begin to see and appreciate them, while others say that it is " an immense wedqe that we are planting in their midst, that must rend them and their country asunder." The relations with the Indians have given me much anxiety, and be assured I have left and shall leave nothing undone that shall create any but the most friendly relations with them. But under the most favorable circumstances there are always to be found some mauvais suJets among them. This has been evinced in the recent acts of depredations of the Pelouse, which the enclosed communication to General Harney, headquarters, and marked No. 1, will give you full details. The enclosed paper, marked No. 2, will also show you how guarded we have to be regarding the Nez Perces and their movements. Thus far, however, all things have moved on as well as we could have anticipated ; and should no untoward accident befall us, we shall yet successfully accomplished all for which we started. Hoping to reach the Cceur d'Alene Mission by the 8th of August, we shall have the best part of three months, A,ug-ust, September, ~nd October, for work in the Cceur d'Alene and Bitter Root mountarns. This should, unless our work should prove too severe, bring us to the mouth of the St Regis Borgia river and possibly to the Bitter Root river, some eighty miles from t.he rdain Bitter Root valley. In case I find that I cannot reach the valley with my train, I regard it much better that I should return to winter at Walla-Walla, sending a small party to the Ditter Root. By the middle of September I shall, however, be the better. prepared to arrange my programme for the winter. Under any circumstances, captain, our appropriation should be re-newed, and the remainder of the appr@priation asked for by th~ hon-orable Secretary of War should be asked for in his annual estimate; and I therefore urge it upon the department, at this early day, ~n order that as much time as possible should be given to the subject m the early days of the next Congress. My party thus far have been in good health. Tru ting that my course thus far has met with the approval of the department, and requesting that all communications b~ addressed to me at Fort Wall a-Walla I am, sir, with respe~t, your obedient servant, JOHN MULLAN, 1 t Lieut. 2d Artillery, Com' g Military Road, &c. Capt in . A. H ~IPilREYS. ' U. . Top. Engineers,' Com'g Office Exp. Surveys. BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 11 III. CAMP AT CCEUR n' ALENE MrssroN, .August 16, 1859. Sm: My last communication to the department was from my camp on the St. Joseph's river, July 31. At that time we were engaged in building flatboats for the St. Joseph's and Cceur d'Alene rivers. On t he morning of the 1st of Au~ust a flat, 42 by 12 feet, was finished, when th/:\ escort and supply train of Lieutenant White cr·ossed to the right bank, and on the morning of the 2d of August I completed the crossing with my whole party. The boat for the Cceur d'Alene river was completed on the evening of the fourth and rowed by the men, via the lake, to the Cceur d'Alene river, and established at the cross-ing of that stream. The valley of the St. Joseph's, being somewhat wet and marshy, compelled us to build a corduroy for 400 yards across it, which, too, was completed by the evening of the 4th of August. The route thence to the Cceur d'Alene river, a distance of eleven miles, which had been explored and worked with the parties referred to in my last communication, was also completed on the morning of the 5th of August, affording us an excellent road. This had occupied :fi fty men for seven days in rock, earth, and timber, but we left behind us a road that we passed over with single teams with facility. Our advance working parties therefore, on the evening of the 5th of Au-g ust, with the main body and escort, encamped on the left bank of the Cceur d'Alene river. Having some days previous sent a small explor-ing party in advance, I found that my best location would lay along t he left bank of the Cceur d' Alene for nine miles and then cross. This was rendered necessary by the high rocky spurs comiQ.g to the water ' s edge; rock, moRtly .a hard limestone and slate. Selecting there a good grazing camp, our parties were again set to work, and com-pl eted the road to the crossing of the Cceur d'Alene by the evening of the 10th of August. rrhis work consisted in labor through open tim-ber, one mile of grading, and building one large and three small bridges over small creeks emptying into the Cceur d'Alene. The road b eing completed, we effected the crossing of the Camr d'Alene in safety by the night of the 10th of August, and encamped on a small prairie on i ts right bank. The road from this point to the Mission being ex-plored by the time that the work in the rear was finished, I found that w e would be here delayed for some days, as the work in timber and along the scarps of the spurs or hills was somewhat severe. This road was commenced on the morning of the 11th and completed to-day, which I regard as the finest piece of road yet constructed. Here I had my whole working force, laborers and teamsters and a detach-ment of 20 men from the escort. The road thence being open through to th:e Mission, our command ~oved froD?, our camp at the crossing, or a pornt two miles to the east of the crossmg, and reached here at noon to-day. Our total distance from old Fort Walla-Walla landing to this point is 228 miles, and from the new fort 198! miles. In my last communication I had hoped and expected to reach the :Mission by the 8th, but often we would begin the work along side 12 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT hills and spurs, which on the surface appeared simply earth work, but soon we entered bed rock, which rendered our work of blasting and picking slow and tedious; but under all th~ circumstances of the diffi-culties of the route, I regard tnat we have reached this point of our line in good season_. and possible for this latitude in midsummer. I am still sanguine as to our reaching the Bitter Root, unless some untoward circumstance, not to be foreseen, should ref,ard our progress. On our line from the crossing of the Camr d'Alene to this point we con-structed three substantial bridges over several creeks that make from the spurs to the north of the river. Since last writing you Mr. Kol-lecki and Mr. Weisner, with the Mission barge, started from St. Jo-seph's riv~r with their instruments, and established an observatory at the Creur d'Alene Mission, where they have been collecting and are still collecting data for the determination of its position. We have with great accuracy the moon culminations, beginning on the 4th in-stant, and sets at meridian and night for latitude. Thus far two of my chronometers work excellently, the remainder are somewhat indiffer-ent. Our barometrical observations, which have been made from the Dalles to this point almost hourly, are carried on at the observatory with great care. We have been enabled to bring our barometers thus far without accident or injury. I find our latitude here differs but a few seconds from what we found it by our observation of last year, and the approximate longitude, as thus far determined, will throw the l\fission a little to the west of that heretofore given it. Our observations, however, are, as yet, worked only a,pprox-imately. Since last writing you, the party of Mr. Howard, lately in charge of Mr. De Lacey, has joined me and been put to work on the road. They completed their survey July 31, running their line of levels to the mouth of the Pelouse for 191 miles, the longest lines of levels yet run on the coast. Their route, as before stated, was from the Dalles, up the Columbia, on its left bank, via old Fort Walla-Walla, to the mouth of the Snake river; thence up the Snake, crossing it at its mouth, along the right bank, to the mouth of the Pelouse. Owing to the severe character of the work along the Snake river, heavy and precipitous basaltic rock, Captain De Lacey found the more practicable line to cross the river and keep along its right bank. The general grade along his line of the Columbia will be thirty feet, and more severe along the Snake, reaching at the maximum, at some points, of sixty feet per mile. This spirit level line has been run with much care, and reflects credit upon the party of sur-veyor , and will yet furnish the material to be worked up at the pro-per time, and turned to a practicable account. Already is it, contem-J)lated to construct a rail way over the line that we surveyed from the Daile t the mouth of the Des Chutes, over which the whole trade into the interior of Oregon and Washington will be transported. fr. Howar , who, at the date of my la t communication was an in-valid at }fort Walla-Walla, joined me on the 14th instant: very weak and fee le, and is now quite unwell and under treatment. He is a~ected with a wellin.g in his groin, which now completely unfits him for the fi I~. With two other exceptions of my workmen, and one or two old1ers, the command is in good health. The Indians, BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 13 thus far, are friendly, and we continue to exercise, by night a~d by day, the strictest vigilance i_n our mov~ments-among and our mter-course with them . . From this date, until our road shall be completed across the divide of the Creur d' A1ene tnountains, my plan of opera-tions sha11 be as follows : A party of twenty-three men will go to-day, with a pack train, eleven miles distant to a point of timber, and wo~k towards the Mission; a party of forty men, ,with three wagons, ~1!1 start this evening, croMs the Creur d'Alene at the Mission, where it 1s fordable, and push the work forward to join the party in advance, and I trust, by the 21st instant, to reach a prairie eleven miles east of the Mission. As additional supplies for our escort will start from Walla-W alla, and be placed in depot at this point, to be here by the 15th proximo, I have deemed the following the most judicious plan of work: To go in advanre myself from this point, with all the working parties, and push the road vigorously forward towards the waters of the Bitter Root, striking the headwaters of the St. Francis Borgia; to leave behind here in depot, until the road to the divide shall be completed, Lieutenant White, with his escort, iu command of all the wagons and depot. He thus forms an entrepot between us and the lower country, and, in command of the Mission valley, he holds and guards the key to the mountain pass, as there is nothing ahead to fear. Besides, here our large band of stock and work animals can find rich and abundant grazing ; and when the road iscompleted beyond the Creur d'Alene divide, a distance of about fifty miles, they can rejoin us in five days. This, then, will be our plan; and when you next hear from me I hope to be well on in the heart of the mountains. The weather, during the day, is pleasant and well suited for work; the nights are cold, the thermometer falling as low as 32°, with ice ¼-inch thick. Thus far our camp grounds have been good and grazing excellent, our animals, except those severely worked, being in good condition. I use the oxen in the woods, removing logs and timber, but generally they are in good condition. I sball send :Mr. Sobon in advance to-morrow, to go as far as the Bitter Root valley, exploring and mapping in great detail all the points of the line) so that we shall know the points of greatest difficulty, and thus be enabled to arrange to the best advantage our smaller working parties. I have a detachment of twenty-one men every day, from the escort, on fatigue service-this party under the charge of the civil engineer. The Indians and others, in times past, have told me much regard-ing a practicable and easy route that would lead to the Clark's Fork, at Thompson's prairie. In order to have this route examined and mapped, and thus add to our topographical knowledge of the moun-tain section, I shall send Mr. Engle to-morrow, with some friendly Indians as guides, over the route, and crossing the Clark's ·Fork river, go as far as the Flathead lake, and, returning via the mouth of the Bitter Root river, by the St. Francis de Borgia valley, join me on the line of work. Mr. Kollecki and .Mr. Weisner will still remain until the work is completed ahead, at their observatory at the Mission', with Lieutenant White's escort. I will also send, as soon as the water falls sufficiently low, either l\1r. Howard or Mr. De Lacey, via the 14 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT river and lake, to the upper falls on the Spokan river, to examine in detail and map the same, and, provided with the necessary tools, see if the barrier of rocks that now constitute the obstruction to the free passage of the waters of the .Cceur d'Alene lake, and which I referred to in my topographical memoir of last year, cannot be removed. Could this be practicable, it would prevent the overflow of the St. Joseph's and Cceur d'Alene rivers, keep their valleys dry, and be the means of reclaiming thousands of acres of the richest agricultural land along the western water-shed of the Cceur d'Alene mountains, and will be worth all the trouble that the labor will cost in making the examination. Mr. De Lacey will, I think, however, accompany Mr. Sohon, in ex-ploring in advance, so that this last work will probably devolve upon Mr. Howard on his recovery from his present ill health. You were informed in my last letter that Mr. Engle and Mr. Sobon were absent on an examination up the forks ot the St. Joseph's river. They ~x-amined both forks, some twenty miles above where I made the crossrng of the river, and found the valley of each fork to this distance to _re-tain the general characteristics of the main valley, where the high pine-clad spurs closed in on both sides, rendering the valley an .alm_ost mountain defile, the width of the stream itself. This exammat10n shows the St. Joseph's to be the larger and longer of the feeders of the C~ur d'Alene lake, having its sources near the headwa~ers of the Pelouse, far in the eastern spurs of the Bitter Root mounta~ns. This examination of this river has thus supplied us a topographical desideratum much desired. You have thus an exhibit of what has been done since 31st July, and our general plan of work and movements until my next commu-nicatiun, which will be about 1st proximo, when I hope to be near the headwaters of the Cceur· d'Alene river. Since last writing you, the Indians have given no additional signs of malevolence, or a feeling that would materially interfere with or retard our progress. An ex-p~ess from the settlements yesterday brought me the communicatio.n of the department, stating that $30,000 would be placed to my credit in New York, and $20,000 in San Francisco. My accounts for quarter ending 30th June, supposing the whole appropriation to be subject .to my draft, would leave s,lme seventy-one thousand dollars on deposit. My monthly expenses are now a little over $5,000 per month, and I owe Mr. Chouteau for 24~000 rations sent from St. Louis, 27th May, to Fort Benton, and freight on same, amounting in all to some $10,000, which I will pay as soon as the deposits are made. I owe also to quarterma ter's department some $2,000, which covers all the in-debtedne s of the expedition up to date, except the monthly pay of men. The monthly account for July will go by this expre s, and show yo_u ~he tate of affairs up to August 1. The remainder of the appr_opr1_at10n, therefore, I would respectfully ask to be placed t? my er: d1t with the a i tant trea urer in New York, a my men w1ll be d1 ch r~ed n the 1:i ouri, and it will be more convenient to have the mone' 10 ew ork than in an Franci co. lthouCTh my m nthly expen es are greater than oriO'inally, roughly e ti ate l, they are not a dollar too much for our work, thouO'h it may be for the ppro ri tion, but I have rea oned thu : hould we reach BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 15 the Bitter Root in good seaso~, we shall reach Fort Bento·n in early summer, where I can disband a large part of my force and send tbem, via the Missouri, to St. Louis, and thus what is expended now, saved then, Besides, I am in hopes that the remainder of our appropria-tion will be asked for, and 1 can only entertain the hope that the de-partment, understanding in detail, and appreciating the difficulties and severity of our work, and the cost of transporting provisjons and material of construction over so long and distant line in a perfect wil-derness, will at this early day take the subject under its special no-tice, and submit to the approaching Congress the estimate made by the honorable Secretary of War last year, and which was indorsied by the Military Committee in the Senate. Besides, I shall suggest, and if the views I now entertain are carried out as I ·could well wish, I will then recommend to the department that when I shall have com-pleted the road to the Missouri, which I hope will be in midsummer of 1860, that I should retrace my steps over the route to the Columbia, repairing and otherwise improving the route as circumstances in t.he interval shall determine. On my reaching the Bitter Ruot valley I shall then lay before the department certain views and plans of opera-tion that the results of our e}Cpedition have developed. Thus far all moves well with us, and I can only hope that the same good fortune and success that has attended our movements to this point will continue to the end of our expedition. Trusting that my course and plan of operation thus far have met with the approval of the department, I am, captain, with respect, your obedient servant, JOHN MULLAN, 1st Lieutenant 2d Artillery, in charge of road. Captain A. A. HUMPHREYS, United States 'l'opographical Engineers, In charge of the Office of Explorations and Surveys. IV. CAMP ON Csumed,0 the freshet might b~ so great that the beginning of e:ffecti ve work wou1d be pushed far rnto June. In order, therefore not to be caucrht by this contingency, I set the men to work and cdnstructecl twenty hand sleds, carryi~g 600 pound_ each, and though the river was opened to within ten miles of the Bitter ~oot, there was much yet to be done on it. We tbcref~re compl~ted it properly below all, the crossings of the St. Regis Borgia. Iy ammal , on the completion of the road beino- still on the Bitter Root, I made the attempt to get them up and :nove down my train to a point BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 29 below all the crossings, where I could safely winter my party. In this I succeeded for my civil party, but my animals_ were i:ot able · to move down the train of the escort. I lo~t some ammals rn the at-tempt; the remainder I started for the Bitter Root river, where I or-ganized a small but efficient party under .one of my wagon-masters, .Mr. Calwell, and sent the whole band to the Bitter Root valley to win-ter. The ice had already formed in the Bitter Root river, and some of the animals crossed on it, and while crossing, the ice broke up, and I came near losing my entire band ; with the exception of one or two being drowned, they crosRed in satety, and started for the Bitter Root valley on the 9th of December. As soon as this was dune, foot bridges were constructed over the sixteen crossings of the 1 iver, and ~he sleds were set to work to move the whole escort train also to the point tbat I had now selected for our wintering point, for it was now evident that there was no possibility of making the road any longer to advan-tage. The men had worked amid snow and cold till it was out of the question to work any longer, and on the 5th of December, with reluctance, I suspended work on the road. The work of sledding now began, and we have succeeded in moving down the whole escort train a distance of eighteen miles with hand-sleds, in all some fifty tons of freight, and are now m ~>Ving down the wagons, and by 12th of January my two entire trains will be at the point where I now write you. Having selected a point on the left bank of the St. Regis Borgia, and about 10 miles from its mouth, where the mountain forma-tion rendered the spot sheltered, and where timber and water were convenient, I set the men to work builqing first a storehouse for my subsistence and other property, and then erected an office, in which I am now working up all the material collected during the last eight months. The weather has now become cold, .and on the 5th of De-cember the thermometer was 42° below zero. Having completed the storehom;e and office. I set the men erecting log cabins, and to our winter home I have given the name of "Cantonment Jordan." Uy the 1st of ,Jarrnary my buildings were completed, when I told all the men who were thus thrown out of employment by the suspension of the v,, 1 k . that their pay would come out of the renewed appr0pria-tion, which I fully rely upon during the present Congress. Some five in number were not willing to trust to the contingency, and pre-ferred encountering the dangers of the snow to Walla-Walla, whence I have discharged them and paid them off. We are now -some sixty miles east of the Creur d'Alene Mission, and I am sanguine to believe that our worst work is over. I have much under-.e.stimated both the amount and character of the work to be done on the road, and though I feel somewhat disappointed in my own person that I did not reach the Bitter Root river, still the amount of work left behind us sufficiently attests what has been done within the last six months. I shall resume work in the earliest days of spring, by the 1st of April at furthest. I have had examinations made of the line of loca-tion to the crossing of the Bitter Root., and from the best data I esti-mate that it will cost us one month's labor to reach it by th~ 1st of May. ~n Novemb~r last I sent Mr. ?ohon, my guide and interpreter, to examme a new line from the crossrng of the Bitter Root to thl:i Hell-30 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT Gate, which had been described to me by Indians and others, and which would involve only one crossing of the Bitter Root. The line examined in August last involved three crossings. Mr. Sobon had with him a Flathead guide, and spent several clays in its examination, but the ground was then covered . with snow to the depth of fifteen inches, rendering it ont of the question to pronounce definitely on the line of location, but the probabilities are that this will be the line of the road, and which at most may involve two months of work; we shall have then three months' work to the Hell-Gate defile, and I shall endeavor to complete the remainder from Hell-Gate to Fort Benton in anotht>r month, reaching the latter point by the 1st of August, pro-vided I _ am not detained by high water on the Hell-Gate river; and provided farther, tbat contingencies which I cannot now foresee ·shall not occur in the interval. Every man, therefore, whose services I can possibly do without while the work is temporarily suspended, will be paid out of the renewed appropriation, so that I shall be enabled to complete the road with the remainder. l have preferred doing this to 1alling back upon Walla-Walla and not be able to resume my work in June or July next, whereas now work of a necessary character ( office work) is going on, and the men on hand to begin work in the spring. But I trust, captain, the earnest requests contained in my former communication have met with at least a consideration; and that an. estimate has been a]ready submitted by the department to Congress of the amount necessary to complete the road. By reference to all the roads made in this region over that line, you will find the average per mile has varied from $400 per mile, as a minimum on the SteilacooUl and Monticello roadJ to $1,000 per mi]e, as a maximum on the Salem and .Astoria road ; and when the department will consider the length of the line over which subsistence and other stores have tote transported, and the c~aracter of the mountain work, they will not hesitate to urge with earnestness a renewal of my appropriation. But the department may rely on one thing : as I was sent out to build and construct the road, it shall be constructed. The· follo~ing work is now going on, all of which is neces_sary_for the accomplishment of our special objects. The office work 1s bem~ pus?ed ahead ~ith all the vigor possible ; and I send by this mail copies and tr'acmg ot those part.s which, being partially completed, may prove of the most value for present reference-the work on the different lines examined during the past summer being made on a scale one inch to a mile, and all details put down ready for a c~mpleti?n of our general map. A small party is now at the crossing of the Bitter Root river whip-sawing lumber for the building of boats for th~ crossing of this river in the spring. At the same point I have est.1bhsbed my observatory which will continue durinO' the winter; we have already two month;' transit observations at theb same point, and hal! ~e ena l~d to determine the points of our line with accuracy. A party 1. m the. 1tter Root valley with my wagon-master, in per onal charge ot my amma] . Ir_. ngl , wh_ tarted for Fort Benton with a small party to map the ]me thence rn order that I might arrange for the spring work, BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA 31 has not yet returned. He has been absent since 8th of N overu ber. I had hoped that he would have been here _befor~ starting my express, and I can only suppose that he feared trustmg himself back, a_nd must be in the Bitter Root valley. If he should return before sprrng, you will be informed in my next exp-ress. I sent an expre'3s to Walla-Walla on the 14th of November, and on 20th of same month sent an additional expressman to the Camr d'Alene Mission to await there the arrival of the mail and to assist them across the mountain. My expressman, Toohill, tarried at the l\tlission until the 27th of December and learned nothing from Walla-Walla ; and the fears entertained were that the expressman and a number of other men who were discharged from the rncort were overtaken by a snow storm on the plains, and the men and mail~ both lost. I trust that this will not prove to be the case, but such 1s the impression, as written me by the Jesuit fathers now at the Camr d'Alene Mission. My expressman, remaining at the Mission until the 27th of December, started for my camp with the Creur d'Alene Indians on snow shoes. They reached my camp on the 2d of Jan nary, in five days, a distance of sixty miles. They report the snow on the divide of the Bitter Root as five feet, and most of the crossings of the Camr d'Alene frozen over, and also mar.y crossings of the St. Regis Borgia. Since they crossed the mountains the snow has again fallen with us a foot, making the depth on the summit of the mountains about six feet. T·hough the weather has been generally uniform, still we have some days of severe weather. On the 5th of December the thermometer fell as low as 42° fahrenheit bF-low zero, freezing the mercury, and possibly a spirit thermometer would have shown a lower temperature. '.£he rear· guard of my escort was left eighteen miles behind us to guard certain stores until they can be transported below; and while there one of the men going out to hunt got lost in the woods and -mountains, and remained out four days and nights without food or blanketR; he became frosted by the cold and became almost deranged, but some instinct led him towards the camp, which he reached crawling on the ground; he was immediately placed under treatment, but his feet were so badly frozen that they became worse day by day; finally, mortification taking place, there was nothing le1t but to amputate his limb; to save bis life and body the physcian cut off· one leg, and the probability is that he will lose the other, if not his life. January . 7, both legs have been amputated. Many cases of frost bite have occurred where men were much exposed, but also yielded readily to medical treatment. Many of the cases arose because the men were not well provided with boots, a contingency that I foresaw when starting, and which I tried to meet by purchasing from the clothing department 100 pairs of boots, which l issued to the men, but the wear and tear in the woods and the constant walking to and fro in all weather was such as to take up the whole supply. The meu otherwise are generally healthy, and, though oqr pros-pects day by day are snow-clad and dreary mountains are all cheerful and long for the openi_ng of ~pring. I~. order that the departmenf JI1ay fully understand m detail the cond1t10n of things and the abso-82 .MILITARY RO.AD FROM FORT lutP- necessity of a continuation of our appropriation, I have deemed it b8st to send Mr. W. W. Johns:m as a special messenger to the department, who has been wjth the expedition since we started for the settlements, and who, as a civil engineer, has done some good service with us, and the only man who could make the trip on snow shoes into "\V ~Ila-Walla. I have instructed Mr. Johnson to return V?'.a St. Louis and the Missouri river, and meet me at Fort Benton . . There are several instruments that I shall need, and a list of which I herewith enclose, and request that~ they be ordered from Green's, in New York, and be carefully forwarded to St. Louis to meet me at Fort Benton. The command is now to make a more thorough examination of the heights on my return to \Valla-Walla in the autumn of 18n0. I shall not be enabled to send another express to ·walla-Walla beforn the middle of March, and this cannot reach Wash-ington before the 1st of June, and I could not get a reply before the ] st of August, at which time I shall be at Fort Benton. Therefore, . I will submit to the department my-plan of operation in the opening of the spring, to be modified as contingencies shall arise; and I also submit certain recommendations, which I now earnestly urge before the department, relying fu1ly upon the fact that they can be neces-sarily carried ·out, I shall proceed, myself, with a small party, to Fort Benton, on the 15th of Febrirnry or 1st of March, locating the road as may be best, and at the same time bring over a portion of my supplies: now there, for my party. I shall push the work with vigor till the 1st of June, whe..1 I may send forward a number of men whose services I can best spare) to Fort Benton., to take passage on the steamer. I shall push on the road with the remainder, reaching there by the 1st, or some time in August. I have already at Fort Benton a ninety-foot keel-boat, which I sh111l use "in sending my party down the Missouri. When reaching Fort Benton I shall send down the remainder of the men, together with a num her of the escort, whose times of enlist-ments will have expired) or near expiration, as an escort to those. men as far as Fort Leavenworth. These will be under an officer of the escort. 'fhis wilJ not only be necessary, bnt in the end more ec0nomical than to discharge them on the Pacific. If the department does not carry out the military movement I have recommended, then I shall endeavor to dispose of as much of my outfit as possible to the Iudian department. '1.1he animals can be driven back; but it would not pay to take the wagons back empty, and hence I shall leave them at Fort Benton rather than pay the hjr-e and sub~istence of teamsters to fake thtm back. I shall then return with the escort and a very small party back to Walla-Walla, on which trip we can correct many location made, as well as adding new facts to the topographical knowledge f the country, and at the same time have a sufficient force to repair the road. But that which my mind has dwelt much upon, and which I submit to the. department_ ~or a pecial consideration, is the following, ~nd re and then return and ob-serve the eclipse and take other observations tor the month of July from the summit of the mountains. At that time the atniosphere will be clear and free from haze. At present in the mountains it is hazy and difficult to observe; whereas at Fort Benton the sky and atmo-phere are clear, enabling us to make good use of the time. Mr. Weisner arrived sately at Fort Benton the ~0th of May. He crossed. the mountains by "Lewis & Clark's Pass.'' I had thought that if, with a moderate expenditure of time and means, I could construct the road along the Big Blackfoot valley, it would be not only more direct, but shorten the route some fifty miles. I have never been over the Big Blackfoot myself, and I have been unable to gather from Governor Stevens's report the amount of work that would be required to construct a road. it is true, an itinerary is therein given by Lieu-tena~t po~al~son, bu.t I am_ assured, with all respect to ~is memory, that 1t 1s far from bemg reliable, and does not probably mclude one-fourth of the actual work. With a view of ascertaining the exact char-acter of the line, I directed Mr. Sohon to accompany Mr. Weisner as far as the summit of the mountains, and to thoroughly explore the line with the passes at its bead, Lewis & Ulark's and Cadotte's and a third between these two. This examination proves the line-e~cept at great cost and time-unsuited to our present work. For 20 miles 48 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT from the mouth of the Big Blackfoot the rocky spurs and canon-like formation of the vall,ey prevent any line except at great cost. This examination of the line, however, will add much topographical in-formation to our present knowledge, which, together with an exami-nation to be made in July by Mr. Kollecki and Mr. 0. R. Howard, civil engineer, will clear up our doubts regarding heights, grades, and difficulties regarding the wagon road and railroad location. In December last 1 had the section of the St. Regis Borgia canon from its mouth to Cantonment Jordan examined. It proved imprac-ticable for wagon road purposes, but the trip was made under rnarkr,d difficulties. Three and four feet of snow and dense timber rendered the exploration exceedingly difficult for the explorers, and they suf-fered much, one of the men being frosted by the exposure. The topography of the country, however, indicated it as the railroad line; and in order to satisfy ourselves regarding it, and thus make known this unexplored link of twelve or fifteen miles, I directed Mr. Kol-lecki and Mr. Howard to explore and survey it. 'l1hey started 25th May; but having gone up it some three miles, the freshet compelled them to return. 'rl1ey started from its mouth upward. They then went up to the cantonment to try with a small wagon boat to .descend the St. Regis Borgia. They started on 29th May; but before th13y got far the impetuous current and the difficult character of the stream, rendered so by fallen trees, snags, &c., precluded the possi-bility of its thorough exploration. We have information enough, however, to convince us that it is the railroad location. The survey of the wagon road and the adjacent country keep pace with our pro-gress, and every detail is collected with much care, which will enable us to show in truthful light the character of the line. The level line is still being run, and the facts thus far collected prove most markedly the erroneous judgments, opinions., and reports heretofore made of this section by Colonel W. F. Lander in 1853. The data will, at the proper time, be in the possession of the department. In order tbat I might, from positive information, know something of the character of the spring freshets, I directed the man-one of our own men-in charge ot the ferry at the Bitter Root crossing to construct a water gauge, which has been done, and upon which we have recorded the daily rise since the freshet began, and up to date. The Bitter Root has risen eiyht feet, and, so far as the observations of our party go, there are no signs of a greater rise than teu, feet. The river reaches its maximum rise by the JOth or 15th June, and then falls rapidly. When it is known therefore that the banks of the Bitter Root are from twenty to forty feet high, the danger of freshets to the wagon or railroad line is either a chimera or a false ass~rtion. Dur~ng the winter our ex pre smen measured the depth of the snow on th eir everal trips in every winter month, and from these we can con truct an accurate snow profile from here to Fort Walla-Walla, and thu. fr m ~ctual measurement say how deep exactly the snow was at any 1 v n 01 t. Thi ha never efore been done on any line; and from the fact that th ol nel an er: and Mr. Beall were compelled or rather did su P n ork o their lines, respectively, early in autumn, to be re-BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 49 sumed only late in the summer, is sufficient pro1?f ~o my mind that no winter reports can be made by these men ; for 1f 1t had been prac-ticable to winter on their lines, why was it no.t done? \ In connexion with our present operations, I thought when the ex-pedition should have concluded its field labor, that, in discharging my men, I should cause one party to return east by way of Fort Laramie, and thu~ explore a direct line from He11-Gat.e t.o Fort Laramie. But the loss of animals, scanty means, and the danger of doing it with a small party, have been sufficient to deter me from attempting it at present, and especially now, since I learn that Capt. Reynolds is about to do the same thing. . I am sanguine to believe that he will find from Fort Laramie an excellent line to connect with our line either at the Deer Lodge or at the head of the '' Little Blackfoot" river. I reported to Governor Stevens regarding this line in 1854, and should then ILave made it had not my special instructions precluded it. Several times since I have referred to it in conversations with Governor Stevens, Lieutenant Warren, and others; and I also learned of Colonel Fer!"is, Indian agent at Fort Laramie, that he had been over much of the line, and represents it as. eminently practicable for wagon road purposes. fo the Bitter Root valley are living many half-breeds and Indians, seve-ral Shawnees and Delawares, anJ they all assure me that an easy line can be had, and that they are willing to go with any partv sufficiently strong to oppose either the Sioux or Crows in case of difficulties, and guide them through it . I know n.ot by what line Captain Reynolds will travel, but should I learn of his whereabouts, I shall despatch two trusty Delaware Indians to him to assist in his expedition and to guide him safely. I feel much interest in the exploration of this line, and for the great saving of distance and excellent country through which the line will pass, am confident that it will become the emi-grant route to the north Pacific; and in case of a central railroad line along the Platte, Fort Laramie becomes at once the best and proper point of deflection for the north Pacific, provided ~he link from Fort Laramie to the Hell-Gate proves practicable. The valleys of '' Beaver Head," "Deer Lodge," Hell-Gate, and "Bitter Root" are large and arable, and must at once become centres of population. Indeed, even now they would be such, did not the fears of the Blackfeet, Crows, Sioux, and Snakes render it a physical impossibility. Mr. Sohou has returned from the Big Blackfoot exploration. He found five feet of snow on the summit, which, together with the canon-like formation at many points, and in others on account of its rocky character, renders it; with our present time and means, out of the question for the wagon road location; and hence I regard that our original line, via the Hell-Gate and Little Blackfoot, will be, even at the expense of distance, the best line to follow. This line as you know, too, is free from snow in winter, and at all times can'be trav-elled, and, looking towards the connexion with Fort Laramie the Hell-Gate line is preferable. ' Regarding the work now in progress, I would state that, up to date, three of the fl ve miles of earth and rock grading is completed, and, in H. Ex. Doc. 44-4 50 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT addition to two miles of earth and rock grading, we have fourteen mih;is of work to the Hell-Gate. I find that we have much blasting, and at present I have four sets of drills going every day; the rock being a hard, :flinty limestone, this has been inevitable. I have at present one hundred and twelve men on the road, and we are pushi~g through with our greatest exntions to reach Fort Benton early rn August next. The freshet is high this year, and in places gives us m·uch trouble ; streams will be fordable, however, early in July. !have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN MULLAN, First Lieut. 2d Artillery, in charge of Military Road, &c. Captain A. A. HUMPHREYS, U. S. Top. Engineers, In charge of Office of Explorations and Surveys. xv. MILITARY ROAD EXPEDITION, Camp at Fort Benton, Nebraska Territory, August 2, 1860. SIR: I have the honor to report the arrival of my expedition at this point yesterday, the road of 633 miles from Fort Walla-,·v alla to Fort Benton being opened. I submit the following summary of my opera-tions since the date of my last communication with the department. By constant and unceasing labor we were enabled to complete the grading and rock blasting around the mountain on the Bitter Root river, referred to in detail in my last report, and on the 20th of J u?e our wagons with our working parties moved over it as far as the Oh1l-mo-e-pah. creek, which we were obliged to bridge as the water :Vas deep and impassable for wagons. This was a heavy structure, berng 148 feet in length, with four heavy cribs in the centre ; it occupied ten days' work of forty men., and is durable and commodious. Hence to the crossing of the Skah o-tay creek, the road passes for a quarter of a mile over bottom land; then rises to an open timbered plateau, along which it continues for two and a half miles, and then pRsses thr~ugh somewhat dense timber for a quarter of a mile to the crossing o_f the Skah-o-tay. A distance of two miles will be saved by constructrng a bridge across this creek at its mouth; but as this would have cau ed at lea t a week's delay, we located the road up to the crossing about two miles above its mouth. From this ford the road ascends a hill o four hundred feet in hei~ht, and then taking successive open timbered plate3.u , croQ es the Kul-ko-lau creek, and comes into the western e~d of the Hell-Gate ronde, a large prairie basin, some twenty miles rn lena h by ten in width. This we regard as the termination of our h avy work . We called our camp here Camp Humphreys, 336 mil fr~m \~ lla.- alla. Our wagons, with the working party, reached th1 p mt on he 2 d of June. I de m it most prudent to make here a depot of baggage and other ro1 erty not actually needed for our field duties, and also hel BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA, 51 an auction for the disposal of such articles as were salabl~, with a view to disbanding my party and settling everything at F~rt Benton, accordincr to instructions received. I transferred to the Indian depart-ment suth property as was no longer needed, repaired the train, and on the 28th of June resumed our march up the Hell-Gate valley. On the 2d of July we reached the crossing of the Big Blackfoot, a distance of twenty-two miles from Camp Humphreys. vVe were obliged to do some three hundred yards of grading in the last fl ve miles before reaching the crossings, the road leaving the level prame and passing over the foot slopes of the mountains. The water being very high) we were obliged to ferry our wagons over, which was accom-plished with only one accident; the boat upset, emptying one of the wagons in~o the river, which gave us some difficulty before we could get it out. Here we had a depot of supplies for our onward move-ment, a number of men were discharged, and we moved from here on t he 3d to the crossing of the Hell-Gate, five miles. An express was sent to Major Blake with a reply to his communication of the 15th of J une, received 2d of July. The road to the crossing is over a fine level, open timbered plateau; uot much work required. We had to ferry the first crossing of the Hell-Gate, which occupied the entire day of the fourth of July ; five more crossings were made in the next twenty-three mileH, the valley being narrow (quarter of a mile in width) and the river tortuous in its course. These fords were, at this time, deep; indeed, at the fourth crossing, the oxen of one of the wagons became unmanageable, turned down stream, and the result was the drowning of an ox and a detention of three hours. These fords can be avoided by side hill excavation, part in rock, which time would not allow us to perform. The amount of work required on this portion of the road to render it practicable at all seasons will be one month's work of fifty men. We were detained two days to cut a graded road over the butte at the Beaver Dam creek, to avoid two impracticable crossings of the river. We continued up the valley of the river, making nine crogs-ings in forty-one miles-in all, fourteen crossings. rrhe distance from the mouth of the Big Blackfoot is sixty-four miles ; from this point the valley of the Hell-Gate becomes wider, the timber becomes scat-ter in g and thin upon the mountains, and bunch grass covers the valley and hill-sides. After passing mile-post 400, the valley of the river is about a half mile in width, and the mountain slopes become less abrupt; the road now leaves the river and crosses over rolling foot-hills , and through intervening bottoms for eleven miles, to Flint creek· thence twelve miles to Benetzi's creek, it passes over nearly level botto~ sanJ. After leaving Benetzi's creek we made three crossings of the Hell-Gate and two of the Little Blackfoot. These crossings can be av?ided by grading an~ ro~k blasting, requirin,~ ten days' work of thirty men. F rom this pomt the road passes tor twenty-one miles over n ~lling bills by the Deer ~odge prairie, and crosses a high hill (elevation 1,000 feet) to the Llttle Blackfoot. This portion of the !oad will be relocated to avoid ascents a?d descents, and materially improved and shortened. To t ake the line via the Little Blackfoot valley will require five days' work of fifty men. We were obliged to 52 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT make a c;ossing and recrossing of tlie stream, which can be a~oided by a half day's work of fifty men. The present location of the line 1rnnce up 10 the foot of the divide will require shifting up on to the foot-hills to avoid soft ground; this would require two days' work of fifty men. On the 18th of J u]y we made the crossing of the Rocky mountains at Mullan's Pass, distance from Walla-Walla 469 .8 miles. The as-rent is easy, the descent to the east is steeper, but will not require to double teams. The road was cut for a third of a mile through tim-ber, thence with light grading and clearing along the Big Prickly Pear creek to Fir creek, ( 476 miles,) where we were obliged to do some two hours' work-chopping, clearing and grading. The road passes hence over rolling prairie for 20. 2 miles to the Small Prickly P~ar creek. In this distance we crossed six small streams, each of wl11ch required a small amount of grading to allow the passage of our wagons; we also did some 300 yards of earth excavation, which, how-ever, delayed the train but little. We remained three and a half days in the Small Prickly Pear :e-gion, being stopped by severe work on the Medicine Rock mo~nt~m. As thorough an exploration as we could give the country at this time showed that the only practicable line lay over the mountain, and ac-cordingly we were obliged to do considerable work, principally in earth excavation. After crossing this mountain, the country in advan~e was still broken and knobby, the river flowing through an impracti-cable canon. We followed the trail for ten and a half miles, when the valley becoming wider it wa8 followed down for four and eight-tenths miles, making twenty crossings-the trail being very rocky, and re-quiring four to six days' work to make it passable by the high water trail. On the 25th of July we reached the last crossing of t?e Prickly Pear, and also the last point where work of any account will be required. In reference to the region of the Medicine Rock mountain, I would state that it is truly the most difficult between Hell-Gate and Fort Benton, a~d compares unfavorably with any section of the same length on the entue road. The ascents and descents are many and great; and though three days were occupied in exploration, the location was not satisfactory. It is believed that a better location will be found by turning_ to the north, some_ of the spurs making down to the Pric~ly Pear canon. The ground 1s rocky and broken, rendering excavation difficult. The line as worked was thought best at the time. What is needed is a more thorough examination and additional work. Fifty me~ for ten or twelve days could be profitably employed on this aect10n. The road_ from the Little Prickly Pear creek to the Dearborn river pa e f?r ix.teen miles over rolJing prairie covered with fine gra . ater 1 found at a point seven miles from the Prickly Pear. The. Dearborn river is about 120 feet in width. It is always forda-ble, with the exception of about two weeks in the spring. From the De .r~orn t~ un river, 32.5 miles, the road is over nearly level I rame, pa srng Y Bird-tail Rock, a prominent landmark, at the ba e BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 53 of which is a good camp for grass and water, but no wood. Distance from the Dearborn, 16.5 miles. On reaching Sun river, the question ar?se about the route then~e to Fort Benton, the usual line travelled bemg by the lake and sprmg, and a point called the Big Coulee, on the Missouri, 11} miles above the fort; thence down the river to Fort Denton. This involves a march from the spring to the Missouri of 22 miles without water. Wood is very scarce, and the supply of water even is precarious. It was, therefore, determined to explore four lines from Sun river in to Fort Benton. Mr. Sobon, with a small party, was sent via the Mis-sion across to the Teton river, wi-th a view of ascertaining the feasi-bility of a detour from a point near the Bird-tail Rock, striking the Sun river at the Mission, about 10 miles above our crossing; thence passing to the Teton, and thence down to a point nearly opposite Fort Benton, where the line would cross to the Missouri. I proceeded with a second party across to the Teton by a line leaving_ the Sun river about a mile below the road crossing, while the main train in two parties travelled the usual routes to Fort Benton. One by the route already indicated, via the lake, spring, and coulee, while the other proceeded direct from the spring to the fort. The parties all met at the terminus of the road on the 1st instant; and on comparison of notes, it is thought that the line from the cross-ing of Sun river, at the Agency farm, via the Teton, is the best for wagon trains, especially when drnwn by oxen, there being only one camp without wood, and one march of 18 miles without water. The supply of water on this line is always ahundant and the grass good; the distance, however, is increased 18 miles, but this is counterbal-anced by the advantages of short marches and a good supply of water. In order to determine the question oi the practicability of the line of the Big Blackfoot, Mr. Howard and Mr. Kollecki were sent over it with a small party to make ·a detailed survey of it, and report upon the amount of work required for a wagon road location, &c. rrhe report has not yet been prepared ; as soon as received, it will be for-warded to the department. I can only state, as the result of this sur-vey, that this line presents so much work as to be impracticable for a wagon road except at heavy cost. Mr. Howard will prepare the profile and report at Washington, concerning which I will address you a letter. On my arrival here I turned over to Major Blake a11 of my wagon transportation. I now propose to return over the line of the road, ac-cording to instructions received from the department under date of May 30. I retain one assistant and a force of about 25 men. We shall move with a pack-train in advance of Major Blake's command and shall change the location of the road already mentioned in thi~ and my previous reports so far as practicable, and shall spend the re-mainder of the s~as~n in working those points most necessary for con-tinuous commun1cat10n at all seasons. From our examinations of the Bitter Root river, it will be impossible for us to construct a bridO'e over it this season. It is 440 feet wide from bank to bank has an ~xceed-ingly rapid current, with a rise of eleven feet in th~ freshet. The driftwood floating down it in the spring rise would sweep away any 54 MILITARY RO.AD FROM FORT structure unless built with stone piers, for which I will forward a de-tailed estimate ; but it would be safe to say that a, structure suited to this river crossing would cost not less than $25,000, or one-fourth of our present means for the entire route. An examination will be made of a line from the Camr d ' Alene Mission westward to the north of the Creur d'Alene lake ; thence along the Spokane, crossing it and connecting with the present line of the road at the Camas prairie or Nedlhwaldk creek, with a view of avoiding the flats of the Cceur d'Alene and St. Joseph's rivers, which are impassable for wagons be-fore late in July or early in August. Here a radical change of location will be needed, and a new section of 25 miles from the head of the Spokane to the Mission will have to be worked to get the most favorable permanent location. A s soon as we reach winter quarters I shall prepare and forward a complete and detailed report and estimates for the line of the road, with bridges, &c., complete, where they cannot be avoided. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN MULLAN, First L ieut., 2d Art., charge qf Mil. Road Expedition; Captain A. A. HuMPIIREYS, U. S. Top. Eng'rs, In charge of Qffece of E xplorations and Surveys. XVI. MILITARY ROAD E XPEDITION, Camp at Fort Walla-Walla, W. T., October 12, 1860. ~IR: I have th ~ honor to r eport the arrival of my expedition at this pomt on the 8th mstant, and at the same time lay before the depart-ment a general sum mary of my operations since leaving Fort Benton. My report to t he department of August 3 gave an account of m_y wo~k to that date. Raving completed all the details of my reorgam-zat10n at Fort Benton, and havin g t urned over to Major Blake all the transportation that was available fo r h is purposes , and having see_n that the party to descend the Missouri were properly provided for their trip, I left Fort Benton, on my return to Fort Walla-Walla, on the 5th day of August, to carry out, as far as practicable, the instructions of the department of J une 3 . As_ I informed tbe department from Fort Benton, the permanent 1oca~10n of tbe wagon road between Fort Benton and Sun river would be via the Teton river, on account of the advantages of wood and wat r; ut the increase of distance can be saved during the summer an au u n :nonths by taking the route of the Mis ouri river a1:d ~ake. . A faJ or Blake decided to take the latter route, I put my tram m m tion ver it in his advance, with a view of gaining time to repair the r , an uch other work as wa needed for his movement. T h ,; r . te r ferred to in my former report can be improve h · v rk n will _t ake a good road, by heading certain coul_ee c a orkrng a new descent to the Missouri river, throwm0 BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 55 the camping ground about three miles above the present point, kno_wn as the Big Coulee. We came by the coulee route, and on the mornrng of the 5th of August moved over a very excelle.nt prairie road to the lake distant thirty-five miles from Fort BRnton. Fuel has to be carried to this point; ' water is good and sufficiently abundant for all p urposes. During the spring and winter seasons the groun~ around the lake is wet and boggy. On the 7th we reached Sun nver; no work required, and at night encamped on its right ban~{, at. the Blackfoot agency farm. Distance from Fort Benton, fi.fty-mne miles. Here we tarried on the 8th to fit up trains, &c., and moved forward on the morning of the 9th; camping at Bird-tail Rock, distance seven-teen miles. 'l'he repairs of grading dry gulches, throwing out loose stones, &c., occupied the working parties during the march. It had been represented to me that a better route to the Sun river might be found by taking a direct line from Bird-tail Rock to the Blackfoot Mission, crossing Sun river at the latter point. On this d ay I examined this line by going up Sun river ten miles, to the Mission 1 and thence over the line to the Bird-tail .Rock. I found the ground rough and broken, involving many and severe changes of grade, and the line not to compare with the one selected as the route of location. On tbe morning of the 10th August, moved sixteen miles, to the Dearborn river. Total, ninety-two from Fort Benton. The work consisted in grading dry gulches and ravines. The ground is gene-r ally rolling, with few changes of grade, and road good. No wood between Bird-tail Rock and Dearborn river. There is an abundance of water on Beaver creek, seven miles east of Dearborn river. This is a running stream at high water, and has a gravelly bottom ; water in pools at this season of the year. '11he country here becomes rolling and broken in all directions. The Dearborn river itself flows through a deep gulch in the prairie, and below, where we crossed it, enters a rocky canon, and in eight or ten miles more empties into the Missouri. Cottonwood timber is abundant on the Dearborn, and the soil along its bottom is good. A ugust 11.-Left the Dearborn, and gained, in three-fourths of a mile, the high rolling prairie ground. The work consisted in gradin~ dry ravines and gulches. Road generally good, involving changes of grade, but none so difficult as to req nire doubling teams. Camped on the Small Prickly Pear creek, distant one hundred and eight miles from lfort Benton. A ugust 12.-Moved up valley of Small Prickly Pear creek, making eighteen crossings of the same. These mi?;ht be avoided by work in excavation, partly in rock, for a distance of three miles. Some of the crossings can be bridged; pine and cottonwood at hand. It will, however, be cheaper another season to work the road so as to avoid the creek crossings . It is difficult to say how much time this will involve-probabl;r not more tban five days' ~or_k of forty men; for though the rock 1s decomposed on tbe surface, 1t 1s bard and solid in the i_nterior, and might require the slow and tedious process of blastmg. It would be best, at any cost, to work the high water line. On the night of the 12th encamped at the foot of the Medicine Rock 56 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT mountain, where it was necessary to remain on the 13th to do some additional work over the mountain. I was so unwell at this point, being obliged to be carried in a wagon, that the 1mpervision of the work vf repair devolved upon Mr. W.W. Johnson. The work here consisted in improving the grade up the mountain, which is steep, and. must be changed another season, eve~ at great cost. After gaining the steep ascent, the road is good until the descent to the Small Prickly Pear creek is made, when the road is again steep, in order to make the final descent of the most western spur of the mountain. Much work in grading was here done, both on the 13th and on the 14th, when we made the passage of the moun-tain and encamped at its western base on the Small Prickly Pear creek. Morning of 15th August moved one mile and a half up a low bottom, and, with a good road over rolling ground, in two miles more reached, Soft Bed creek; in two more crossed Willow creek, and at the end of twelve miles reached Silver creek, where we encamped. rrhe bed of the creek being miry, we constructed a bridge of thirty-five feet l~ng and fifteen wide. Graded the banks of ravines and dry gulches durrng the march. On the 16th August moved over rolling prairie, crosseu Fir creek in four miles, and thence to the Large Prickly Pear creek, which we reached in two and a half miles more. Here we made a new crossing, and after following up its valley bottom for a mile, recross_ed, and taking rolling side hills, along which the road is cut for two ~iles in light earth excavation, followed up the creek to its head, and ma mile and a half more reached the summit of the divide of the Rocky mountains. Descended and encamped at its western base, two miles from the summit. Placed mile-post, 149 to Benton, 469 to Wall~-Walla, on the summit. At another season it would be well to avoid both crossings of the Prickley Pear creek by siM-hill excavation, which will occupy twenty-five men two or three days. The asce_nt and descent of the Rocky mountain divide are good and do not reqmre double teaming. ' We ~e~formed some additional work along the headwaters of t~e Large l nckly Pear creek and Little Blackfoot and avoided some six ossings of.the lat_ter. The road was stony in places, and very sidling. To place this port10n of the road in good order occupied the whole of the 17th, and on the 18th of August we moved down the valley of the north fork of the Little Blackfoot. Threw a bridge thirty feet long an 2 'jj 2 ' j 2 . 9i 29, 03 29. !' 29. 5 29, 29 .. 30 .. 30 . . 30. • 30. 30. 3. 3. 31. -31. 31. - · 3:? .• s·. 3·, . BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 97 TABLE-Continued. Place. Height in feet Distnnce from the Point of Rocks----······-····························· Summit of Sobon·s Pass ••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••. 1st crossing St. Regis Borgia 1iver •••.•••••••••.•••••••••. Small stream __ ._ .•.••...••••••••••••••••••• ~ •••.•••••. 2d crossing St. Regis Borgia river ••••.••••••••••••••••••. 3d. __ ...... do .............••••...•..•.....•.......... .tth •.•••••• do .•••••....... - .....••••.•..••••••.•••••• 5th ........ do .....••.•••...••...•........... _ ..••.•.. 6th ........ do ...........•..... ·-···-·~---·-·········· Small stream _ •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• -7th crossing St. Regis Borgia river •••••••••••••.••••••••. 8th ••••••• _do ..••..............•........•...•.••••••• 9th .•.. _._.do ....•....•........•.••............•••••. ~~~:=======~~~::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ~ 12th ....... do ..••..•....•••••••................•••••. 13th ...•••. do ...... · •••.•..............•••••••••..... 14th .....•• do . ........................•.•............ 15th_ .••••. do ..............•..•.........•••••........ 16th .•••••. do ......•••.••...........•....•.•.••••.... 17th ...••.. do ....•...... - ................•••.••••... . 18th crossing St. Regis Borgia river; 1st stream ••••••••••• Do. - ••.••••• do .•.•........ 2d stream .••••••••••. Do •.•••••••• do .•••••...... 3d stream •••••••••••. 19th crossing St. Regis Borgia river .••••••••••••.•.•••••. 20tb._ ....• do . •••....••••......•....•.•..•.......•... 21st . ...... do ..•••.•.............••••.•.......••.•••. 2-2d ••••••• do ......•.••........••.•.....•.....•••.... 23d . .••.. -do . ........••.•.......••.... ·-············ 24th ....... do .•.•.•...••••.••..•...• ~ ...•............ 25th ..•.... do .............•..................•..••.•. 26th •••.• . do ..••••.••.••.................•....•.•.•. 27th ....... do ....•.•••••........•.•••......... ·-····· Small creek •••••.••.•.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••. 28th crossing St. Regis Borgia river •••••••.•••••••••••••• 29tb .... ... do_ ._·······-························· · · · 30th . .•.••. do ................•••.•.•......•....•.. _._ 3lst ....... do .•...................•••...•..•......... 32d .•• ••••. do ...•.............•. ·-··········· ...... . 33d •....••. do . ..•.•.....• ··········-········-··-····-3!th •.... . -do . •••••.. -.. ················-··--········ 35th ••••••. do . ..... _··········-·-·-·····-····-·-····-36th .••••• -do_ ..••••..•...•....•••.....•••.....•••••• 37tn .... - .• do ..••.•.............••..........••..•.... 38th ...... -do_ ...•.....................••.•. _ ..•.•••. 39th ....•.. do_ ....••••.............•...............•. 40th ....••• d~-··· ···································· tream •..••• •••••.••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••.••••. · mall creek ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Do •••••• ••••.•••••••••••..•••••••• · •••••..•.• . . . 41 t crossing St. Regis Borgia ri vcr ••••••.•••••••• • .••••. 42d. ··•··· . 110 • ••••• •••••• •••••••• •••••••••••• ··-· •••• 43d ........ do .........•...........•..•..•...••....••. 44th ....... do .••.•.•. -···-··························· 45 h ....... do . .... ..... •••••••.•• .. .......•....•..... 46tb._ ..... do ..... .••. u-····-··········-············· Cantonment Jordan •. _ •••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••. H. Ex. Doc. 44--7 above base . Creur d'Alene Mission. 2,669 2,804-2,413 2,136 1,864 1,833 1,822 1,805 1,799 1,783 1,670 1. 611 1;553 1,538 1,4-89 1,470 1. 446 1,435 1,420 1,411 1,397 1,390 1,387 1,389 1, 380 1,372 1,363 1,354 1,345 1,330 1,298 1,269 1, 244-1,248 1,232 1,215 1,207 1,174 1,152 1,148 1,136 1,132 1,125 1,100 1,093 1,080 1,074 1,054 1,012 l,Oll 978 975 945 940 922 916 881 36.80 37. 10 37.80 38.95 40.30 40.55 4(1. 65 40.75 40.80 41. 00 42.00 42.78 43.90 44-. 20 44.60 44.93 45.20 45.45 45.85 46.05 46.55 46. 60 46.65 46. 70 46.85 46.98 47. 10 47.20 47.30 47.45 47.90 48.40 4-8.80 48. 90 49. 10 49.47 49.65 50.45 5 l. 10 51. 15 51. 30 51. 40 51. 80 52.35 52. 55 52: 85 53. 05 54.30 55. 10 55. 15 55.30 55.40 56.25 56.50 57. 20 57.40 59.33 98 MILITARY ROAD l!.,ROM: FORT F. CANTONMENT JORDAN, ST. REGIS BORGIA RIVER, Bitter Root Mountains, January 3, 1860. December 27.-:--Srn: I have the honor to state that I left the Mission at eleven o'clock a. m., in company with two Indians, on our way to Cantonment Jordan, with about twelve pounds weight to the man, and camped on Mud or Ten-mile Prairie. The snow at this point is two foet and five inches in depth. Travelling on snow-shoes. December 28.-Left Mud Prairie at six o'clock a. m , and camped at Cedar Swamp. Good travelling. Snow same as the day before. Distance 25½ miles froru Mission. December 29.-Got under way at seven o'clock a. m. Good travel-ling. Snow three feet in depth, with a hard crust. Camped at Long Prairie ; distance from Mission 32½ miles. . . December 30.-Leit camp at six o'clock a. m.; crossed the dmde, and camped at the Log House, six miles east of the summit. . From the Cceur d'Alene river to the summit the depth of snow :s four feet and seven inches; from the summit to St. Francis Bo:g~a river the snow is five feet deep; from this point to the Log House it 1s four feet and six inches. Decernbtr 31.-Got under way at seven o'clock a. m. Good trav-elling. The road had been ope·ned by Lieutenant Lyon's men, who were sledding tLeir wagons to camp. Snow two to three feet deep on an average. None of the crossings between the Mission and the divide are as yet frozen. Total distance travelled sixty miles on snow-shoes. I am your obedient servant, P. TOOHILL. Lieut. JoBN MULLAN, Oharge of Military Road. CANTONMENT JORDAN, St. Regis Borgia River, January 4, 1860. Srn: The above report of rny expressman, P. Toohill, of hi trip from the Cceur d'Alene Mission to our winter camp, made in Decem-ber, gives the exact depths of snow along the line in the month _of December, 1859, and may, with other data, serve to form some de:fi~1te conclu ion regarding the actual depth of snow on this route durmg the winter season. I ball have a report, also, on the depth in January, February, and March, made and submitted to you. I am, air, re pectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN MULLAN, l t Lieutenant 2d Artillery, charge of Jftilitary Road. • pt. . MPilREY , nited States Z opr;graphical Engineers. BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 99 Report on the practicability of a railroad alonq Columbia river,from the Dalles to Umatilla river. 1859. 0. P. Howard, 0. E. . CANTONMENT JORDAN' Bitter Root 1.1fountains, January 5, 1860. Srn: In accordance with your letter of instructions, I left the Dalles on May 16 1859 for the purpose of examining into the practicability of a railro'ad lide, along the Columbia and Snake rivers, from the Dalles t ,) the mouth of the Pelouse river. Before enterino- into details, it would be, perhap~, better to say something of the O general character of the route, and more especially of the question of grades, which in most lines of railway is the subject of chiefest difficulty. A glance at the accompanying profile, together with the following considerations, will show that if, under any cir-cumstances, a railroad is practicable along the Columbia and Snake rivers, the problem of grades is of ea~y solution. A large portion of the line is on the broad flats between the bluffs and the river, where there is no engineering difficulty to be surmounted. A considerable part also-and such sections will be examined in greatest detail-lies along the face of steep rock bluffs, with the river laving their base, and where, by a variation of a. few hundred feet to the right or left, the line can be elevated or depressed the greater part of the distance; here it is sufficiently evident that the question is not one of grades. Still another port on is on rolling plateau which sometimes continue for miles, with very gentle ascents and descents, and then break off suddenly, with sheer precipices of from fifty to one hundred foet in hejght, compelling the engineer to take the steep siJe hills beyond; and these sections are the only ones on which any difficulty from grades can be apprehended. Further investigation will show that even here the difficulty is not great To afford a cheap line of railway from the Dalles to the Umatilla river-beyond which point I will not enter into detailed report, from. being incapacitated for field-work by sickness during the remainder of the exploration-the amount of curvature must of necessity be con-siderable, but much less than those unacquainted with the peculiar-features of the country might suppose . . In almost all cases where larg~· ravines occt1r the bluffs recede from the river, and broad flats inter-vene; and where the precipitous rock cliffs come down to the water, a:. straight line can often pass along their face for half a mile without leaving the surface more than a few feet. There are many points. along the line where a large amount of rock cutting and embankment would be necessary, and probably in several places short tunnels would be required; but the average cost of the line would not be great if curves, of one thousand feet radius as a minimum, should be adopted. where the nature of the ground requires them. Regarding the means and manner of operation during the explora-tion, the instruments used were a compass, spirit-level, and odometer · the latter attached to a small wheel, fitted with axle and shafts and1 rolled along the line as surveyed. ~r. Sohon was compass-ma~ and topographer from the Dalles to Mud Sprmg; thence Mr.Johnson took his 100 MILITARY ROAD :FROM FORT place to a point some ten miles west of John. Day's river, and the remainder of the line was surveyed by Mr. De Lacy. The level was used by myself until we had nearly reached the Umatilla, where ~ickness forced me to leave the party, Mr. Johnson taking my place as leveller, and the charge of the party devolving on l\1r; De Lacy, who completed the special exploration. The map of the line was made by Mr. Sobon so far as he surveyed it, and the rest b.v Mr. De Lacy; the profile by myself. In the following report, as in that of Mr. De Lacey, the stations referred to are taken from the level-book, and are identical on map and profile. The high-water mark, as given on the profile, was obtained from actual observation of the greatest height of water of the Columbia river in 1859, when, I am assured, it was higher than at any previous time in the knowledge of the white residents of the vicinity; and it may safely be predicated that a line of rail way, located a few feet above this mark as given, would be safe from any encroachment from the Columbia. It is necessary to state that whilst the profile was made entirely from the level notes, the level line as run was not, in many instances, exactly over the ground which was chosen as the best line of location; but being limited in time, as well as means, during the survey, and there having been no previous examination of the ground, I was forced to content myself with merely noting in the field book the variation between the line as run and that afterwards selected. The field-book, therefore, will frequently show the data used in this report ,vhere the profile does not. The initial station of the survey waa taken at a point on the Walla-N alla road, two miles east of Fort Dalles, and a bench-mark made on t be root of a small oak tree near this station was taken at one hun-dred feet above the base line. From station 4 to Five-mile creek, distance two miles, the line rises 45 feet to the point selected as the best bridge crossing. About one mil~ of emb3:nkment six feet high, and a quarter of a mile of rock cuttmg five feet deep, necessary. Small culvert, six feet span, nece -sary at Three-mile creek. Length of bridge across Five-mile creek 140 feet; good natural rock abutments at about the same level, and 50 feet above water. From Five-mile creek to 27, distance one and a half mile, the fall is five feet. Between these points the ground is much rougher; about three-quarters of a mile of rock cutting 8 feet deep, and half a mile erubankment 10 feet high, necessary. . From_ 27 to 32, distance one mile, line rises 10 feet. Work here 1 mo tly rn sandy earth. About half a mile of earth cut 15 feet deep, and half a mile embankment 15 feet high, will be required. rom · 2 to 40, di tance three miles, rise 10 feet. Between the e int ~he quantity of work necessary is estimated as about equal to. even- iuhtb t a mile of rnck cut 10 feet deep and half a mile of b okment foet high. ' . rom 4 t t~e section is much more difficult than any yet con-idcr ll. The P?mts are on the same level, and their distance apar d three-eighths of a mile. Between them will be nece ary BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 101 half a mile of embankment 20 feet high, which extends for some 800 feet across a shallow corner of the river; then a tunnel of quarter of a mile about· and thence to station 43 the line passes for some 600 ' ' f . h feet over another and much deeper corner o the river, w. ere a bridge will probably be required. The exact depth of. the nver at this point could not be ascertained; but at high_ wat_er 1t mu.st be _at least 20 feet, and the current, for a part of this distance, 1s qmte rapid. . . Frrm 43 to 53, distance two and a quarter miles, rise 77 feet, grade 34 feet per mile, there will be necessary one mile of embankment 10 feet high. Between 44 and 53 the cliff makes a sharp bend, requiring a curve of 2,000 feet radius, and angular deflection of 80°. From 53 to 54, distance 0.44 mile, line level; rock cut averaging 10 feet for the whole distance. This is an elevated plateau which breaks off suddenly at 54, with a fall of some 70 feet. Between 54 and 55 is another difficult Section. The line leaves 54, passing along a very steep side hill for about a. quarter of a mile, then curves for some 30°, with radius of 1,000 foet, and passes, on a straight line1 through a rock bluff, with a tunnel of about 1,000 feet; then, with a curve of larger radius, and some 90° of curvature, it keeps the rising ground behind the Des Chutes village, and passes on a straight line across the Des Chutes river to station 55. For the first 1.40 mile the fall is 42 feet, grade 30 feet per mile; thence the line crosses the river on a level, and 15 feet above high-water mark, to station 55. Length of bridge across Des Chutes river, 480. Good abutment and pier foundations. Whole length of embankment at both ends of bridge, 900 feet; height, 15 feet. The whole distance from 54 to 55, on this location, is 1.85 mile; but, by a mistake in the odometer readings, which was not discovered until after the profile was finished, the distance, as it appears on the profile, is 0.67 mile too short. This will be noticed on the profile as well. From 55 to 61, diHtance about one and a half mile, rise 7 feet; work about equal to earth cut six feet deep the whole distance. From 61 to 62, distance rather more than one mile, fall 16 feet, the grade line scarcely leaves the surface more than a foot either way. Material all sandy earth. · From 62 to Mud Spring, distance two mil2s, rise 34 feet, one mile embankment 10 feet high, and quarter mile earth cut six feet deep, necessary. A culvert of six feet span required at Mnd Spring. From Mud Spring to 79 the profile of the selected line of location is entirely different from the level line as run. Between Mud Spring and 74, distance two and a quarter miles, fall 34 feet. The line for the first mile is along the slope of very precipitous rocky bluffs; work for this distance, probably half a mile of rock cut 20 foet deep. For the remaining one and a quarter mile the work is very light and nearly all in earth. Between 74 and 79, distance seven miles, rise 68 feet. The line here lies mostly along the level or gently rolling river flats, where both excavation and embankment would be slight, anti the material nearly all earth. For a distance of 2,000 feet back of.-is, however, the line is near the base and along the surface of nearly perpendicular 102 MILITARY RO.AD FROM FORT rock bluffs nsrng from the river. Here work would be required equivalent to rock cutting some 50 feet deep; but even should a tun-nel of 2,000 feet be rEquired, it would be much preferable to the heavy grades of the line as run and indicated on the profile. About three-quarters of a mile back of 79 is a ravine where a culvert of 12 feet span would be required; also two small ones of four feet span between 76 and 78. Between 79 and 82, distance one mile, is John Day's river. The line falls l 6 feet in the first half mile, crossing the river on a level, which continues to 82. Length of bridge required, 450 feet. Founda-tion for east abutment solid; both west abutment and pier foundations would probably require piling. Embankment on west side, for quar-ter of a mile, averaging 20 feet in height ; on east very little needed. From 82 to 90, distance three and a quarter miles, line continues level. No engineering difficulty between these points. 1,000 feet of rock cutting 20 feet deep, and quarter of a mile of embankmeIJt 20 feet high, would be about equivalent to the work needed. Culvert of four feet span between 86 and 88. From 90 to 92, distance two 'mile-s, fall 20 feet. 1,000 feet of rock cutting six feet deep required; no embankment; one culvert of five feet span. Between 92 and 95, distance two miles, rise 60 feet, there ar~ two very pricipitous rock bluffs of 100 and 80 feet in height, respectively. The line passes about 15 feet above the base and along the face of the first for some 1,500 feet. Here trestle-work would probably be most economical. The second is about two-thirds of a mile back of 95, and by cutting through this for 300 feet, with average depth of 15 feet, the line would pass with very little more work up to 98. Between 95 and 108, distance a little less than five miles, fall ?7 feet, three-quarters of a mile of rock cu ttin a- 10 feet deep, half mile earth cutting 20 feet deep, and one mile e~bankment averaging 20 fret in height, will be necessary. From 108 to 120) distance four and a quarter miles, fall 7 feet; about three-quarters of a mile earth cut 10 feet deep, and three quar-ters of a mile embankment 8 feet high. . From 120 to 121, distance two miles, fall 12 feet, a very spe_cial survey is needed. The line passes across a shallow corner of the nver for some 800 feet, and about one mile is along the face of very tor-tuous, broken, rocky bluffs, 60 1eet high. F!om 121 to 126, distance one and a quarter mile, rise 20 feet, h.alf a mile earth cut 10 feet deep, and half a mile embankment 10 feet high, nece sary . . From 126 to 138, distance three and three-quarter miles; grade lme level ; earth cut one and a half mile, 6 feet in depth; embank-ment almo t nothing. ]from l' 8 to 175 distance 11 miles· the fall here is 17 feet in the fir t 1our mile ; then the line rises 33 feet in the next six mile cro ing \\ ill w creek on a level and 13 feet above its banks, to 1~5 · f ~ the :fir t ¼ mile tbe grade line does not leave the surface at an pom t re 1an 1 feet, and for this di tance two miles em bank men averaging eight feet in height, and one mile earth cut 10 feet deep, i~ BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 103 about the amount of work required. About one mile back of Willow creek the line passes along a rocky hill-side, and from this point to t?e creek one-half mile of rock cut 10 feet deep, and one-quarter rmle embankment 15 feet high, is necessary. Length of bridge across Willow creek 330 feet; abutment foundations solid; pier foundat_ion will probably require piling, one-quarter mile embankment averagmg six feet in height between Willow creek and station 175. From 175 to 196, distance is 4¾ miles, fall 15 feet. In the first half mile there is required one-qtrnrter mile rock cut eight feet deep ; thence up to 196 the grade line does not anywhere vary more than 10 feet from the ground. For this distance, one mile earth cut six feet deep, and one-half mile embankment six feet high, is necessary. From 196 to 211, distance 2¾ miles, rise 32 feet; embankment averaging 15 feet high for one mile. From 211 to 215, distance half mi.le, rise 11 feet; excavation and embankment almost nothing. · From 215 to 222, distance 2¼ miles, half mile of rock cut eight feet deep. The fall between these stations is 26 feet. From 222 to 257, distance 6¾ miles, rise 35 feet. There is necessary half a mile embankment 31 feet high, two miles embankment eight feet high, and three-quarters of a mile earth cutting 10 feet deep. Between 257 and 258, distance 8¼ miles, the fall is seven feet. The line here runs straight across a bend of the river on a low, gently rolling flat. There is nowhere cut or bank of more than 20 feet, and the material is all sandy earth. Over this section the level did not follow the selected line of location. FrJm 258 to 273, distance 1¼ mile, rise ;17 feet; about half a mile embankment 10 feet high necessary. Between 273 and 325, in the Umatilla river; the distance here is four miles, and the line level; half a mile embankment 20 feet high, and quarter of a mile earth cut five feet deep, necessary. Length of bridge across the Umatilla 340 feet. Solid foundation for abutment and most probably for piers; the banks down to the water's edge being remarkably firm. The section of the line from the Dalles to the Des Chutes river, a distance of 13 miles, presents far more of engineering difficulty than any portion of the same length up to the Umatilla. For most of this distance the bluffs are generally very precipitous and near to the river; the peculiar basaltic formation, in some places, rendering anything approaching to an exact railroad location almost impossible, except from a very detailed survey; whilst in others the position for a rail-road is so strongly marked that a very approximate location can be made without an instrument; it is on connecting these last-mentioned portions with easy grades and great economy that the whole real difficulty lies. Between the Dalles and the Des Chutes river the ground which, of the whole distance to the Umatillah, may be'con-sidered as most unfavorable for a railroad, amounts to nearly eiO'ht miles ; req_ uiring in ~hi~ distanc~ probably 2,200. feet of tunnelli~g, and 1,000 feet of bndgmg ; whilst for the remarning 80 miles the sections p~esenting like difli?ulties amo~mt to only 4! miles. With the except10n of these 12½ miles, the estunate of the work required is 104 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT quite approximate, most of the line being on broad sandy flats or gently sloping side hills. The rock is all basaltic, but, being much seamed and broken, is generally favorable for blasting. It is also well suited for rubble-stone masonry and ballasting, for which purposes material in abundance can be obtained from the debris at the base of the cliffs, which at some points has its natural slope for some 100 feet of vertical height. Clean, sharp sand of the finest quality for building purposes is in abundance at many points. There is no timber along the lfoe; a few small willows, at long intervals near the margin of the river, being the only wood; pine timber, however, can be obtained on the Yakima, 12 miles from the Columbia, 1 nd also at the mouths of the Spokane and Pisquouse rivers, which may be rafted down the main Columbia. Pines and cedars are also found along the Clearwater, which can be brought down the Snake and Columbia rivers. I am, sir, most respectfully, your obedient servant, C. R. HOWARD, Engineer of Military Wagon Road Expedition. Lieutenant JNo. MULLAN, U. 8. A., Commanding 111ilitary Wagon Ro·ad Expedition From Walla- Walla to Fort Benton. H. CANTONMENT JORDAN, Bitter Root Mountains, January 5, 1860. Sm: In consequence of the illness of Mr. Howard, who was obliged to J etire from the field, I was placed by you in charge of his party, and continued the survey of the Colmn bia and Snake rivers from the mouth of the Umatilla river to the mouth of the Pelouse. The work was completed on the 31st of July, after which the party took up the line of march for your· camp, which we reached on the 7th of August, on the Creur d' Alene river. During these operations the personnel of the party remained the same as when left by Mr. Howard. The level was run by Mr. Johuson and the topography of the line was taken by myself. The instruments used were odometer, engi-neer's level, and prismatic compass. Previous to entering on the details of the survey, which I shall give as far as the time now at my disposal will admit, I would remark that on the portion surveyed by me, as on that previously surveyed by Mr. Howard, the question of grades _, often so difficult a problem to solve _ may be said not to exist; that is, they are so light a i.l to cau e n o d1~culty ~vhatever. It -is simply a question of curves and con-t:u~hon · or, 10 other words, to put in curves which will req11ire the mm1mum a 10unt_ of construction. Thi will be peculiarly the ca e at . me f th e ornt of basaltic rock which occur on nake river, mo of which I dect in the form of ledges, which can be easily taken a vantage ot for the road-bed. BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 105 The line of the river was followed throughout. No attempt was made at an absolute railroad location, but the best was done that the time and means at our disposal would permit. T~e profile_ and ~ap will show the character of the country, and the rnformat10n gamed will serve to guide future engineers to the most' difficult points for more detailed examination. The stations referred to in this report are the level stations marked on the profile, and commence at No. 325 on the right bank of t?e Umatilla river. At this point the line is distant about half a mile from the Columbia, but reaches it again in a mile and a half with a descending grade of 1:1ix feet per mile, passing over a sandy earthen flat, and then takes along the river for three miles more to station 363, on top of a rock ledge and along a gentle sand slope, which ad-mits of a grade of 10 feet per mile. At 363 the line takes a steep, rocky side hill, with occasional perpendicular ledges, for three and a half miles along the promontory called the "Monumental Rocks" to station 387, where they cease. The grade in this distance will not exceed five feet per mile, but will probably require, say 1,000, yards of rock ~ut ten feet deep. The rest will be earth excavation, and curves will be from two to three miles radius. There is one large ravine 300 feet wide, through which flows a small spring branch. This will require embankment, and a culvert of six feet span. . From station 387 to station 447, distance 5.4 miles, the ground falls 10 feet, passing over a ,rolling, sandy country, where the-re would be about one mile of embankment six feet high, and the retaining dis-tance cut; average depth, three feet. From station 447 to station 496, distance 4.18 miles, the ground rises 15 feet, and will require very little work, except in the last mile, where there will be about 3,400 feet of embankment three feet deep, and 800 feet rock cut 30 feet deep through a rocky point jutting into the river. The level line between these stations did not follow the selected line of location. From station 496 for about two miles the grade will be very light, almost nothing. There will be 200 feet rock cut eight feet deep, and abont 3,000 feet of emba3:1kment; average height, five feet. A better location could, however, be probably found by throwing the line nearer to the foot of the hills. Thence to the Walla-Walla river station 576, a distance of three miles, the country is rocky and broken. Points of rock jut into the river, and ledges of rock oc~ur cut up by ravines. The line will pass at the foot of these, with a very light grade. There will be about one-third of the distance embankment 10 feet high and two-thirds rock cut. A special and detailed examination will be re-quired in order to locate the line or make an estimate of the amount of work. On the left bank of the Walla-Walla an embankment of 1,500 feet long and 10 feet high would be required, and a similar one on the right bank for a mile. A bridge, crossing about 100 yards above the mouth of the river, of 550_ feet in leng_th, wo?ld _ be required. Both banks are of sand, there berng no rock immediately on them, but that material can be obtained in abundance from the neighboring cliffs. The river is very rapid, and fordable in low water. 106 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT From station 576 to station 587, or between Walla-Walla and Snake rivers, a distance of 10¼ miles, the whole country is a sandy flat, almost level. There are but two elevations on it, neither of which is over 20 feet in height, and both can be avoided, as well as two or three gullies which occur, by throwing the line further from the river towards the low range of sand-hills which border it at the general distance of three-fourths of a mile. On each bank of Snake river an •embankment of about 2,400 feet in length and 10 feet in height will be required. A draw-bridge of 1,500 feet will span the river at a point about a quarter of a mile above its mouth. The river is about 16 feet deep at this point in high water. Curves of 1,500 feet radius will probably be necessary to approach the bridge on either side, particularly on the right bank, when a range of hills about 100 feet high·, following down the Columbia, come close on the bank of Snake river about one-half a mile above its mouth. This river was crossed by the survey at this point, and the right bank is the one al ways spoken of below. . From station 589 to station 598, (right bank of Snake river,) dis-tance four miles, the line runs along the foot slopes of a range of sand and gravel hills, having the same general grade as the river, or ~ot m_ore than four feet per mile. There will be two embankments with drains across the mouths of ravines, one of 300 feet length and tbr~e feet depth, and another of 600 feet and same depth. Just beyond this station i-8 a rocky point, which will require 352 feet of cut of 35 feet depth. For the next mile to station 601 the line runs on a flat, fol-lowing the natural surface of the ground, and crossing a slough which will require a bridge of 75 feet length. . From station 601 to station 632, distance nine miles, the line, with the exception of about one-half mile when it runs on a flat, takes the ~ides _of ~ravelly ?ills with slopes varying from 20° to 45°; no grade rn this distance will exceed 10 feet per mile. The mouths of several ravines are passed; three of 50 feet wide and three feet deep ; one of 80 feet wide and IO feet deep ; and one large one of 500 feet embankment, 25 feet deep, with culvert of six feet sp~n. None have water in them except in the spring. The rock cuttrng between these stations will not exceed 40 linear yards. All the :e t will be earth excavation. Along this portion of the line the river makes a very large bend north ward. From station 632 to station 635, distance one mile and three-eigbt_h , the line runs for one-half a mile along the steep side of a high rolli~ cr plateau, with a ledge of rock next the river, until a slough comes Ill which makes a large bend towards the west and cuts off a large gravel :i land. · Bey?nd the_ slough is a high rolling flat, extending f9r a ?lile to the foot f what 1s called "Anchor canon " where the nver 1s enclo~ed on ither side by perpendicular ledges' of basaltic rock rising direc ly from the water. 11he canon extend from about 646 to about a quarte"' . f a mile beyond station 663, where tbere is a deep ravine and where 1t n . T l ere a re two distinct ledges of rock continuing all the way to thi~ 'BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA, 107 ravine; the lower one occasionally interrupted and narrow, and from 30 to 50 feet above the water. These ledo-es are remarkably straight. All of this section, from ' station 632 to 646 will need a very special and detailed examination to ascertain the be;t and most economical location. The most obvious would seem to be to cross the above-mentioned island, w bich would require two bridges of about 300 feet in length, and embankment of about 1,500 feet in length and 30 feet in height, taking advantage of the rolling flat, beyond which is much higher than the island, to obtain the requisite grade, (which in no case woul~ exceed 30 feet per mile,) and thus pass the canon on the upper or lower ledge as may be found most advisable. There will be about two and one-quarter miles of heavy excavation and embankment, and about the same amount of rock cutting 20 feet deep. Just beyond station 663 is a ravine about 500 feet broad, which will have to be passed, and a point of rock re-quiring a cut of 200 feet lo!}g, 40 feet deep. From this point to &tation 721, distance seven and one-half miles, the line will run generally on the sides of gravel hills with slopes of from 20° to 40°, with about a mile of rolling plateau. There will be some seven or eight large ravines requiring embankments of from 100 to 400 feet in length and an average depth of 10 feet, with culverts, and numerous small gullies only requiring drains. There will be about 4,000 feet of rock cut with an average depth of six feet and about 500 feet of retaining wall. Grades very light, not more than 10 feet per mile. From station 721 to station 738, distance two miles, will require a detailed examination to determine the best location. About one-half a mile consists of a rolling plateau cut up by ravines on top, with two rock ledges at the base and part (one and a half mile) of a bluff, the face of which is composed of alternate broken ledges of rock and steep earthen slopes. The line on the profile gives the levels on top where the in-strument was enabled to run, above which again are other perpendicular ledges or cliffs over 200 feet high. A line can be obtained along the faoe of this bluff by taking advantage of the ledges of rock, and the use of retaining walls. It is impossible to give any definite idea of the amount of work, but most of it will be rock cutting. A tunnel would ·not be needed, and the grade would not exceed 20 feet. . From station 738 to station 742, distance one and three-quarters mile, the line runs generally along side hills with slopea of from 20° to 30°, where the grade will be light. In this distance there are four ravines, embankments from 60 to 200 feet in length and average depth of 25 feet. Culverts four feet span. From station 7 42 to the Pine Tree rapids, distance three and one-quarter miles, the river is bordered by steep hills cut up by ravines. rrhe lower portion of these hills consists of broken ledges of basaltic rock, points of which jut into the river) and have elevations of from 30 to 75 feet above the river. There are five ravines which will require bridges or embankments of from 100 to 350 feet, and two which are 900 feet broad. There are rock ledges on both sides of all these ravines. The grades would be light, but at least one-half of the work would be in rock cutting, the remainder earth excavation and embankment. 108 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT From Pine Tree rapids to station 757, distance three miles, the line would run along a broken rocky ledge with a descending grade of 2[ feet per mile. This last section will have about 2,000 yards of rock cutting 10-feet deep. The rest being earth excavation on side slope of one and one-half to one. Three ravines are to be passed, 275,300, and 350 feet broad, on the line. This section will require a very particular examination 1 being probably the most difficult on the whole river. From station 757 to station 758, distance one and one-quarter mile) the line of location selected does not follow the line exhibited on the profile, but. takes the bank of the river with an ascending grade of 15 feet. Two large ravines will be passed requiring culverts of 10 feet span. From station 778 to statioa 783, distance two miles, the line has a descending grade of 10 feet per mile, and presents no diffi-culty as it follows the curve of the river bank on side slopes of earth, varying from 15° to 45°, and intersected by only two ravines of any size, requiring culverts of 10 feet span. From station 783 to station 797, distance 2} miles, the line c~n be located either according to the line shown on the profile or on either _side of it, as may seem on minute examination the best line to approach a basaltic cliff which juts out into the river. There is no difficulty whatever on any of these lines, and no rock cutting. . At station 797 the cliff commences and continues for about a mile. There are three ledges of rock running parallel to the water but no continuous . Curves of 1,500 feet radius would be required at station 799, and the line can run around the face of the cliff on the lower ledge. There will be rock cutting for a mile with an average depth of 15 fee t. This point will require a very particular examination. T~e g rade ~ill not exceed 10 feet per mile. Withi1;1 the _next h~l mile t o stat10n 799 there are three large ravines which will reqmre emba nkments of from 200 to 300 feet in length and 20 fee t in depth-cul verts of 10 feet span. In the above-mentioned cliff the first ledge r ises about 50 feet abo ve the water, has an average breadth of :·30 feet, and would be t he best locat ion for the road. From station 799 to s tation 822, dist a nce 4 miles , the line runs on the side slopes of hills, varying from 10° to 30° . T he grade will no· exceed 6 feet per m ile , and the section presents no difficu lty whatev~r. T he mouths of 17 ravines are crossed, the largest being 150 feet wide and 10 feet deep, the smallest 30 fee~ wide and 8 feet deep . No r ocA cutting in this section . From station 822 to station 825 , distance 5½ miles, the line run-partly at the foot of basaltic cliffd a nd partly a t the foot of steep ear slopes crowned with basaltic rock. There is a re(J'ular beach of ro boul ~rs along the whole of this distance) and th~ level line wa run on h1 below high-water mark. An embankment with retaining w 1 can e ea ily made at the foot of these cliffd the total amount, of which wo 1 e 1¼ mile and 15 feet high, besides which there woul fi _e~ of rock cutting 5 feet deep. T here are four ravine t pa . r~ mag embankments of from 100 to 400 feet in length a 12 i t bi h._ The rest will be ide-hill excavation . t ion --5 to tation 836, di tance 4½ mile , he line or lon gentle side slopes; for 1½ mile the side hills are BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 109 an angle of 45°, and covered in ·one or two places with loose rock, where Tetu.ining walls are necessary. The grades can be thi:own abo~~ or below, as may be found best. There are three large ravmes reqmrmg embankments of from 100 to 150 feet and 10 feet deep. There will be about 200 yards retaining wall. From station 833 to station 836, distance I¾ mile, the line, as shown on the profile, was run directly across the i:-and-hills ~o the, mont!1 of the Pelouse river, but would not be the selected line of location. Should the line go up the Pelouse to gain the table land it would be thrown on thr side hill above ; or should it pass the mouth of that stream it would keep below on the· river bank, where it would run on gentle side slopes. 'l1he grades and amount of work would, of course, be widely different on the two lines. Neither, however, would present any difficulty. -Bench-marks were established at the "Monumental Rocks," at old Fort Walla-Walla, near the mouth of that stream, and in two places, one near and the other at the mouth of the Pelouse. All were cut in the solid rock, and the height above the base line on the last one. It will be seen by the above report that the survey made by me · divides itself naturally into three sections. The 1st, from the Umatilla (station 3~5) to the Walla-Walla river; 2d, from the Walla-Walla to the mouth of Snake river; 3d, from the mouth of Snake rive_r to the mouth of the Pelouse. In the 1st section, distance 22¾ miles, there are o} miles of difficult wurk, rock cutting generally, and requiring a special examination to determine the best line of loc1tion. The rest is either side-hill cutting or embankment in sandy earth, and presents no difficulty whatever. There will be 550 feet of bridging. ln the 2d section, distance 10¼ miles, there is no difficulty whatever. The line will pass over a sand fiat, the excavation and embankment will not exceed 10 feet in depth at any point where there is no rock, and no structures required except a draw-bridge of 1,500 feet across Snake river. · The 3d section, distance 59¼ miles, preRents much greater difficulties than the others, in consequence of the basaltic cliff,:3 and broken ledges of rock which occur at the several points mentioned in the above report. None, however, involve greater difficulties than have already been overcome on railroads in the eastern States, and all of these places can be passed. without tunnels and with easy grades. There will be 15½ miles of the above distance which will be nearly all rock cuttiug along these cliffo, and which will require a particular inst1 u-mental examination to determine the best grade with which to approach them, and the best location to pass with the least work. Of the remaining distance 39 miles will be in side-hill excavation with occasional rock cuttin~. The location of the 1ine will be very easy ; and the character of the ground will admit of very light grades, the highest not exceeding 30 feet per mile. Bmbankment will be chiefly across ravines, of which there is a large number, and perhaps three miles across flats, with an average depth of 15 feet, uepending ·on the location of the road. The amount of curvature will be very great in consequence of the 110 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT tortuous course of tbe river. The least radius will be a thousand feet; and very flat cnrves can be employed with great effect in passing the basaltic cliffs to diminish the amount of work. Basalt was the only rock found on the Columbia and Snake river in the limits of the survey. It is full of seams, much of it columnar basalt, and will, I think, be easy to blast. It is excellent for rubble· stone masonry and ballasting, and can be obtained in the greate t profusion, as well as the finest quality of sand. There are remarkably few springs above the level of the river; and the soil is generally sandy, but has abundance of excellent grass both on the river and the hills. With the exception of a few willows of small size, there is no timber on the Columbia and Snake rivers up to the mouth of the Pelouse. Wood for railroad pmpmies can be procured, as is well known, from the Upper Columbia, the Yakima, and the Clearwater,and rafted do"'.n ; and it may not be irrelevant to remark that the location of the lme directly on the banks of two large and navigable streams will afford unequalled fa,cilities for the transportation of the men, their tool , provisions, and the iron for the road. . The right bank of Snake river was the one surveyed, as it wa" reported to offer the least obstacles tu a railroad location. The lef bank seemed to be more difficult, looking at it across the river; but it is almost needless to say that 110 final location could be properly made until both sides had been instrumentally examined. I am, sir, with much respect, your obedient servant, W.W. DE LACY, Oivil Engineer. Lieuten~nt JonN MULLAN, U.S. Army, Commanding Military Wagon Road Expedition from Walla-Walla to Fort Benton. BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 111 I. FORT OwEN, Bitter Root Valley, W. T., January 8, 1860. DEAR SIR: Agreeably to your instructions, of N~vembe~ 5,. 1859, to make a reconnoissance eastward from the St. Reg1s Borgia river to Fort Benton, in order to ascertain in detail the character of the line for the proper location of the military wagon road, and in order to arrange the working parties for spring's operations, and at the same time collect data regarding the climatology of the main range of the Rocky mountains in midwinter, I left your camp on Wolf's prairie, on the St. Regis Borgia river, with Major John Owen, Indian agent to the Flathead nation, November 7, 1859, and reached Fort Owen, after seven days' march, on the 13th, esti-mating the distance at 132.5 miles. The wea1 her Lecoming very cold, and the snow falling continually, we had in that short journey many little difficulties to overcome, which delayed us consider-ably, and thereby impressing me with the idea that a reconnoissance under such circumstances would bring but poor results; I therefore addressed you November 14th a note, in which I informed you of the disadvantages under which I had to undertake the work, mentioning at the same time that I would remain at Fort Owen until I received further instruction from you ; A sudden change in the weather induced me, however, to determine to start, but the difficulty to find a person who· knew the wagon road trail delayed me until the 22d of Novem-ber, at which date I left Fort Owen, accompanied by C. E. Irvine, esq., two laboring men with six riding and four pack animals. I made that day twenty miles against a strong cold north wind, and camped on the Bitter Root river November 23; two of the riding ani-mals, belonging to Mr. Irvine and myself, had strayed during the night. I made a late start, 9 a. m. Mr. Irvine turned the two missing animals, in case they should be found, over to Mr. Jacobs, to go down to your camp; at 11 a. m. I crossed the upper Hell-Gate crossing, at which place the river is divided by an island. The stream was he~vily floating wi~h ic_e, and the crossing rendered difficult by a -strong ice cover extendmg from both shores some twenty feet into the river. The day was cold, and a strong wind blew from and through the canon. In three-fourths of a mile we came to Rattlesnake creek, which is one-fourth of a mile from the mouth of the canon, and found much difficulty in crossing it on account of ice; from here the ground rises very gradually for one and one-half mile, at the end of which a steep desce~t of some sixty feet _to the lower pla~eau wo?-ld require some work; 1f the road through 1t kept near the river, which will oc-casion a little detour, this place can be avoided. The ground beincr gravelly and loose, any earth-work in the lower portion of the defil~ would be easy, and quickly accomplished. We passed over said lower plateau for one-half mile, and car:110 then to a ~teep. ascent, ( sixty or eighty feet,) which C:3'nnot ~e avo1ded. There 1s a krnd of ridge run-ning towards the r~ver, with an. al mos~ level top of forty yards in idth at the foot of its westerly side, wh1Ch has a steep.slope of sixty feet. The road crosses a small creek; the ascent on the other side is 112 MILITARY ROAD FROM li'ORT about twenty-five feet, then three-fourths of a mile level ground, then crosses White Thorn creek with almost undistinguishable banks, then one mile level ground about thirty feet above the surface of the water, thence to the crossing of the Big Blackfoot river, twenty yards above its mouth. No difficulty for wagons to get in and out of the river. Depth of water, two feet in the channel. Between this river and the first Hell-Gate crossing, which is five and one-fourth miles distant, the road leads through open timber and level ground. , Two creeks have to be crossed, the second one with miry bottom; after making the river crossing, whicp. is a good one, the character of the country is in every respect f'avorable'for wagons. The ground is level, firm, and is cov.ered with open timber for two miles. I then reached the second crossm~ ; the river here forms many arms, which overflow at times the enclosed islands, and renders them in places miry. Then for three-fourths of a mile through open tim her to a little creek one-fourth mile from there, reached a prairie one and three-fourth mile in length and one-half mile in width, at the end of which I crossed a little creek and went to camp, made twenty-three miles, snow on the ground about two inches deep; great many icy places on the road to-day, where.the snow has melted and frozen again. A little snow falls towards evemng. November 24.-It snowed during the . night, and we started a~ 9 a. m. in quite a heavy snow-storm. After three miles travellmg through open timber, came to a prairie three miles long, at the. end of which we crossed the river (third crossing) which forms an 1sla~d, and one and one-tenth mile further, crossed Rocky creek at a pomt where it also forms an island. This creek is ·rapid, large, and ~wo feet deep, with big boulders in its bed; then three and one-half m1.les open timber, then three-fourths of a mile over a piece of ground which cannot be called either prairie or timber land, the trees standing at such a distance from each other that the road can be laid straight over it, thence to the fourth crossing; t.bence three-fourths of a mile throug_h open timber, with a good deal of underbrush, thence across a prain_e three and one half miles long to a creek which runs along Beaver-tail Point. This is a tolerably high and steep hil1, which will require some work to make it practicable for heavy wagons; the hill forms a si~gle spur uf one-half mile in width, terminating at the river in a perpendicu-lar bluff. The present wagon road makes here two crossings of the river to avoid this place, (fifth and sixth crossings.) Then one and one-fourth mile over prairie bottom to the river crossing (fifth) by the trail and (seventh) for the present wauon road. 'r his crossing migh be avoided by keeping the road on the°right bank, but it would reqnire me earth-work and the bridging of a little creek which run in tee ravine. This creek ha been named Gold creek, as Colonel ~ an r i aid to have found gold pecimens in it. One-fourth mile fr m t he fi f h cro ing (by trail) a ba lough has to be cros ed ; the . one-fourth mile over prairie bottom to the sixth cro in (e_1" t r eat wagon road·) then ne-fourth mile over prairie to it I ~r k · hen on -fourth mil6 over prairie to the seventh cro --. ( rnth . r eat wag 11 r a ·) then one-fifth mile through o en t i:u r _t h 1 hth er in g , (tenth by present wagon road;) then t h t r il t ke o er a ide hill, about 250 yards from the la t cro in . BENTON TO }'ORT W . .\.LLA-WALLA. 113 The wagon road keeps in the bottom, and ~akes the eleventh crossing a little below where the low water trail crosses, the wagon road would make t'he twelfth crossing. After going for one half mile through open pine timber, and then go over a fine prairie on~-fourth mile in lencrth to the thirteenth crossing. Instead of followmg the low water b'ail. which forks here, one part making the river crossing, the other winding around the rocky bluff which springs out into the river, I took to the high water trail, which led me high up on the bill side. This trail turns, after striking the above mentioned prairie, over a little swelling of the bottom, to the river crossing; thence one-half mile through the bottom, which is cut up by a miry slough, to· wards the hill bluff, which has a steep slope. At this point the wagon road will keep a little to the south, or right of the trail, to gain the saddle of the projecting ridge. This place will require som~ earth-work that cannot be avoided, and has offered a great deal of d1fficulty to all the wagons which have come yet frorri Fort Benton. Reaching the opposite foot of this hill, which is one-fourth mile from base to base, the road gains in three-fourths mile, going over prairie ground, a slough which is said to be very bad i_n summer time. Then strikes over a prairie three miles long, called " Cold prairie," to a ridge run-ning in the same direction as the first one. 'fhis spur, which is not so high as the previous one, can be avoided by the wagon road by keeping close to its foot around the point. This, though, will involve a detour of three-fourths mile, and I think, with little work, the ascent of it can be made by taking advantage of a little ravine which runs up the hill side close to the trail. .After reaching the top of the hill a very gradual descent of one-half mile over prairie ground brings the trail to a little creek ; then three-fourths mile over prairie to an old river bed, or to a lower river bottom; then one-half mile along this bottom to camp ; made 27 miles. Snow two and one-half inches deep. It snows a little towards evening. November 25.-Snowing all niglit, and still continued this morning. Started at 10 a. m., our horses having strayed. Cold day~ Went over the prairie bottom for three-qurirters of a mile ; then the trail takes to the hills, and crosses in one-half mile a small creek. The wagon roitd can avoid this hill hy keeping around it, and striking the trail again a out one7half mile beyond the creek crossing. Then for one and three-quarter mile over rolling prairie ground to two little creeks, which rnn close to each other, separated only by a small elevation ; both of these creeks have miry bottoms; the Hell-Gate river beinµ; separated by a bare ridge fr.om the road, and is com-pletely hidden from view. Then for one-half mile over rolling prairie to another creek, taking, immediately after crossing it, to a considerable prairie ridge coming from the south, and forming a connexion with the hill range, which separates the road from the Hell-Gate bottom ; some grading will be required here, but it is light work. Following that ridge for two and a half miles in an east-uly direction , with its ups and downs-all of which will require some ide-hi 11 cutting-we reached a small creek; then over a small gently loping hill to a small spring branch--from creek to creek about eighty yard ; then take to the oppo~i e hill, where also some grading ill be found necessary, and in one-fifth mile reach a second spring. H. Ex. Doc. 44-8 114 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT Ascending the next hill, requiring also side-hill cutting, the Flint Creek valley lays before us, whence I commenced the gradual descent, and reached it after four and three-quarter miles' travelling. Flint creek has little wood on it, but still' good camping places may be found above the crossing place. The creek is two and a half feet deep, but the banks not high. After crossing Flint creek, in one-tenth mile we crossed a small branch of it ; then for one-quarter mile through the valley bottom; thence three-quarters of a mile over rolling prairie hills, forming tr..e river bluff of Hell-Gate river to the valley itself. The descent from these prairie bluffs, at the place where the trail strikes it, is rather steep, and requires cutting ; but I am confident that by a little examination a bett~r place could be found. Follow-ing up the Hell-Gate bottom for one and a half miles I camped on a creek ; after crossing it, the trail bends about according to the shape of the creek, which makes an elbow towards the north. In two and three-quarter miles cross a second creek, and then follow up the valley for three and one-fourth miles, winding part of the way around the swampy bottom of the river. This portion of the valley is cut by a great many ditches, all of which are filled up with drifted sno~ often to the depth of four feet ; the snow at a level in the valley 1s five inches deep. The trail is unbroken, and our animals have had hard work to keep up a good marching trot. After crossing a hill spur of three-quarters of a mile in width, with gentle slopes on both sides, I took up the bottom again for two and a quarter miles, and then went to camp ; made twenty-two and a half miles. The day bas been clear but cold. The prairie bluffs are almost bare of snow, which has been deposited by the wind in the valley. I am confident that the wagon road can be located in such a manner as to run almost straight, as the valley, which is one and three-quarters of a mile wide, and the river bed, though winding much, keeps well to its centre, without touching the bluffs. November 26.-Started at 8~ a. m. Two mules have strayed off. Cold morn ing; snowed heavily. Travelled one mile through a bot-tom; then cro sed "Humbug creek," which has a fine valley runnin u up towards the pine-clad mountains ; crossing this valle,Y, reached: after th!ee-ejghths of a mile, the fourteenth crossing of the Hell-Gate river ; thi crossing we made in the ice. All the former cros iog' and those of the Rig Blackfoot are rocky. Flint and Hum bug creeks have offered us more or less difficulty) the bore were frozen on both sides, requiring a leap from the ice into the water and out again on the icy shore, which always endan-ger dour animal , the ice being bare of snow. Hell-Gate river here i a old, rapid tream, from eighty to one hundred yards wide, wi a ch nnel of two feet in depth. After making the cro sing I tr f -11 f _r tw hun red yard over a prairje bottom ; then cro ed mall t1m ered point; then took to a little side hill which will r q 1_ir om i e~hill cutting. ~I.1be pre ent wagon road make at th. 11 1 t tw ro rng , being not more than one hundred and t n . ·aid ap~t t. The trail, after leaving thi ide hill will require m r w 1 k l 1 er rock an longer than the £.r t one m~ntioned. lt · pl the ''8 ., ro make two more crossing of the rirer · th BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 115 one-quarter of a mile over prairie, _up the bottom, to a pla_ce w~ere the road winds for one hundred and eighty yards around the side hills, to avoid t'ie crossing of a miry slough formed by a spring; around those hills which are a little sideling, very little work will make this a good road. Then for one and a quarter mile over level prairie, up a bottom; then cross a creek ; then follow up a prairie bottom for one-third mile; then cross a coulee, which wagons can avoid by keep-ing to the left of the trail ; then go up the bottom for three-quarters of-a mile; then cross a little hill spur, which may possibly require grading ; then for two hundred yards over prairie bottom to a. creek; then up a level prairie bottom for two and a quarter miles ; then the river takes a short turn to the south, and there also the trail forks-one passing up Deer Lodge valley. The .wagon road here leaves the river, and crossing the valley takes to a gently sloping side hill, and after one and a quarter mile strikes the Little Blackfoot river about one and a half mile above its junction with the Deer Lodge creek. From the top of said hill the junction. of these waters can be seen, and also the lower portion of the big valley. None or very little work will be required to bring heavy wagons up to the top of the hill without doubling teams ; but it may be that some winding about in the descent would be necessary, as some deep hollows cut up the easterly slope. From the foot of the hill one-half mile through the bottom of the Little Blackfoot valley we camped, having made eight and a half miles. Mr. John Grant has settled near the junction of the two branches of the Hell-Gate river, and built two log-houses. It snowed since 4 a. m., and for some time pretty heavily ; at 11 a. m. it cleared off. The snow here is not so deep as below; it measures, on a level, three inches. November 27.-Very cold morning. Started at 9.45 a. m. Had much delay in finding the animals; one mile up a prairie bottom; then one-eighth of a mile over a side hill, which will require cutting; then one-eighth of a mile up a bottom, partly through brushwood; then wind-ing for a quarter of a mile around the river bluffs, where work will be necessary ; but in keeping the road along the right bank six cross-ings of the river would be avoided. Gaining the hill-slope the road strikes in half a mile a creek, and crosses in half a mile further a second one, the intermediate space being slightly undulating ground. Alter ascending a gently sloping hill, I followed its rolling surface for two and a quarter miles and began then the very steep descent. Here a careful examination of the ground would have to be made to find the best location for the wagon road. This descent of about 350 feet offers one of the greatest ditficulties on the whole route. Of the two ravines to the right and left of the trail, one or the other may be adapted to the purpose, if not, considerable work, similar to the descent to the St. Joseph's river, will be found necessary. After reaching the foot of ~be hill the road runs _up the river bottom for three-quarters of a m:le and cros~es at tb~t distance the Little Black-foot at a point where 1t forms a timbered island a quarter of a mile in width; both crossings are good and with gravelly bottoms· depth of water about one foot and three-quarters and width of fro~ 15 to 20 116 MILITARY ROAD :FROM FORT feet. The opposite hill, which the road has to cross, is called the mountain, and said to be more formidable than the divide of the Rocky mountains. From the foot to the top of the hill the distance is one eighth of a mile, and I am confident that by two turns, which will involve some side-hill cutting, a good and easy grade can be attained. The present road does no~ ascend the hill at the place where the trail is located, but keeps for a mile further up the valley, which forms here a kind of canon, and then ascends the hill by taking advantage of a cou]ee, which runs up to the top of tl1e mountain, with little work. It is said that a good road can be made there, but it will make four river crossings necessary. From the top of the hill, for three-quarters of a mile, over gently rolling ridges, to a timbered point of one-tenth of a mile in width; a quarter of a mile further, over ground of the same character, I gained the topmost ridge; then commenced the very gradual descent, over an undulat_ing surface, towards the Little Blackfoot River valley, which I gained in two and a quarter miles. At the· foot of the last slope crossed Irvine's creek, which has miry shores. At this point the wagon road could, after crossing, follow down the bottom of that creek, then cross the Little Blackfoot river and strike over an appar-ently easily graded hill tow.ards the north fork of the Little Blackfoot river. This road, though it is said to be a bad one in its present co?· dition, is worth examining, as it would save four or five miles m distance. The present wagon road takes in a quarter of a mile after crossing the bott,,m of Irvine's creek to a gradually ascending hill spur, the surface being covered wit1i stones, which it follows for one mile and a half, requiring no work at all to bring wagons over; then cross Buffalo-head creek ; then following up the level bottom of the Little Blackfoot for one mile and a half, reach a slough, and in one mile further a second one, . which must be very bad in spring anvered with only from two to ·118 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT three inches. A strong northeast wind struck us as soon as we gained the above-mentioned plain, lulling only towards sunset. The natural surface of the ground, though open timbered, will probably require no work, though in places the grade is somewhat steep. At the foot of the divide, a quarter of a mile from the top, I struck the headquarter£ of Big Prickly Pear creek; one mile and three-quarters further, a little branch of running water, coming from the north, crosses the road. Just before reaching this creek a little side-hill cutting will have to be done, and also on the other side of it are points where the hills come close to the creek; the valley widens considerably and affords good camping places. On the east side of Stormy creek the ground is level for three-eighths of a mile; then a side-bill cut of 20 yards will bring the road again in an almost level plain fo, three-quarters of a mile; at the end of which the wagon road leaves the Indian trail, which leads down the Big Prickly Pear, and takes to the west over a small side hill covered with pedrigal rock, and in a half mile crossts a dry water-nm. An eighth of a mile fur-ther a second one is crossed ; taking then a half mile over a gently sloping hill, covered wjth pedrigal rock of large size, a thin water-run is crossed ; ascending from there a gently sloping hill, covered with a few red cedars. I gained, in a half mile from the last d1:Y water run, the narrow valley of Fir creek, a tributary to the Big P_rickly Pear creek ; a few steep places in the descent wi_ll offer °:o difficulty for wagons. The ascrnt on the other side of Fir_ cree~ ~s very steep, but a ravine, running to the right of the trail, will faci~i-tate the location of the wagon road; an eighth of a mile is the dis-tance from the creek to the top of the hill, which slopes very gradually. On the opposite side, for a quarter of a mile, towards a dry pond, which extends to the next hill, of ea.sy ascent and descent. The latter one terminated by a dry water-run; distance from the spot w~ere I struck the dry pond to the dry water-run is three-quarters of a mile. Th~ next prairi~ hill is tolerably high and of a grade so steep th~t doublmg teams will be necessary for heavily laden wagons. At this ascent, if possible, the road should be located at another point, as the present trail is cut up by many narrow but deep coulees. Ascend~ng a hill one quarter of a mile long, from the top of which jg a fine view of the Upper Missouri valley, the gate of the mountains and of a small portion of the Rocky mountains, Heart mouotain, can be distinctly seen, and also the direction of the wagon road for ten or eleven mile , to a point where it crosses Soft Bed creek. After crossing~ dry water· run we passed over some rolling ground and descended to Silver creek, 01:e of the tributaries to the Big Prickly Pear creek; thence to camp. D1 tance from top of last bill to camp four miles and a half. l\1~e, to-da , nrneteen miles and three-quarters. Our animals are gettrng weak; the want of sufficient nourishment commences to tell on them. The d_ , w ich commenced cold and cloudy, became clear a soon as the wrn prang up, and towards evening it became quite mild. _ovember 2_ .- tarted at 9¾ a. m. Our horses bad wandered far off dur1n . the mght in - earch of grass. Mild> cloudr morning. ~?r fi e ile a · bree-quarters pa sed over undula.trng, firm prame , to m 11 creek with miry shores, bordered by small willow , BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 119 whence its name of Willow creek; thence two miles and a quarter nver very gently downward-sloping prairie, part of which_ is covered with brushwood, to Soft Bed creek, a branch of Small Prickly Pear creek. After crossing it, I went up its valley in an easterly direction for two miles, at the end of which a little side branch will have to be crossed. For the last half mile the side hills close in so narrowly to the creek bed that in some places hill-cutting will be found necessary, but the distances where work is required are short and the ground not difficult. For one-fourth of a mile further t.he character of the ground remains the same as described ; then, by turning a little more to the nort.h the road gains the hill-side, and gradually ascending reaches in two miles the top of a little divide. The road before comi~g to the last ascent, the trail to its right taking advantage of a small ravine, which facilitates the ascent considerably. The valley on the other side is quite narrow, and remains so for half a mile, until a point is reached where the creek will have to be crossed and immediately recrossed. A little work now and then in this distance will be neces-sary at points where the side hills are too sloping. At this place the valley widens considerably, and a good camping place for a large train can be had. I suppose, though, that the valley must be wet, as the trail keeps on the westerly side hills and recrosses the creek only tbree-q uarter~. of a mile below where the valley bends to the north. In fifty yards the trail recrosses again, and remains on the west side of the creek all the way down to the Little Prickly Pear creek. In two miles and a half more it passes along in an easy slope, which is occasionally cut up by small ravines, but offering nc, difficulties to the wagon road. · Little Prickly Pear creek, which runs at the place where I struck it in a large valley, is twelve feet wide and one foot and a half deep. The banks of the creek in this plain are lined with willows, but higher up · and lower down large trees will be found. The creek, coming from the Rocky mountain chain, cuts through a narrow cation to join the broad bottom, and forces its way after three miles through a rocky mountain range, forming a narrow gorge. After crossing the creek, we proceeded in a northerly direction towards Medicine rock. The day had become very warm, and we had hoped to have been able to reach Mullan creek before dark, bnt after riding for one mile a sudden north westerly gale forced us to seek shelter in the willows of the creek just crossed. In less than half a minute our horses were covered with white frost, and the air was filled with an icy, foggy substance, which after some time gave way to a heavy snowfall. Recrossing Little Prickly Pear creek, we found a tolerably good camp in the willows. We made, to-day, fourteen miles headway, but travelled sixteen miles. November 30.-Remained in camp to-day. The gale has not abated in the least, and the snow still falls in abundance. December 1.-The night has been cold and stormy. At 9 a. m. the sun broke through the clouds, and I started at 11 a. m. It was very cold, and the snow was five inches deep; and the road leading to Medicine rock strikes in three-fourths of a mile a little creek, and following jt up for half a mile strikes the foot of the hill range. Here ·the trail battles a very steep ascent, which the wagon road can make 120 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT more gradually in keeping to a ravine running to the left of the trail. Reaching the top of the first bill, a good road with easy grades leads towards Medicine rock, and from there descends to a small mek called Medicine Rock creek. The descent will require some side-hill ~ork in places where the slope is too steep. From the foot of the b1ll_to the creek is two niiles. The next three miles of the road, which brought us to Mullan' s creek, will require work in different places, as the trail keeps along the side hills. 'fwo hollows, the first one pretty deep, will have to be passed, and a few trees to be cut, to bring wag?ns through with four or five yoke of oxen. The ascent on the other side of the creek is steep, but short, and then the character of the grqund for two miles further remains the same as described. At the end of that distance the road leads towards Prickly Pear Creek valley, then~e over a bare hill, the descent of which will offer no difficulty except rn one point, which, for the present, is made passable by a couple_oflogs stretched from side to side of a low rocky precipice, to give _rn that narrow passage the required breadth to the road. Reachmg the valley, I crossed a creek coming from the west half a mile dist~nt fr~m the bending point of the trail on top of the hill, then half a mile through the bottom of the valley, keeping close to the hill-side, through which, in connexion with the vegetation of the valley ma~ters,. we believe that it is of a miry character. Taking again to the side hills, I reached in two miles the head of what is called Prickly Pear can~n, and went to camp. The last portion of the road will also _reqmre some side hill work, which in some places may prove more difficult, as the ground is rocky. Made, to-day, l lj miles. December 2.-The wind blew a perfect gale last night. The morn-jug is very cold, and our animals appear much reduced. The sn_ow in the vall~y is four inches deep and covered with a hard crust, whic~ makes pawrng for the grass by the animals difficult. At the head of the canon through which the road passes a small creek, coming from the north, empties into Prickly Pear creek. By information I le~r~ed that by foll owing up this creek a good road can be obtained) avo1drng th_ereby 3:11 the crossings which are inevitable by following down_ the Little Pnckly_ P~ar. In taking this direction a little detour m1g~t be made, but 1t 1s said that no ob tacle of any moment would be rn th e way. Started at 9.22 a . m. At the entrance of the canon, where the first crossing will have to be made, after having crossed the creek allud ed to at its mouth , we found that the usually travelled road here has been made impracticable by beavers. Finding a good plac~ to cro ) we followed down the canon for eight and a half miles, makrng . even er~ ings, aU of which were greatly obstructed by ico The m_t rmed1ate ground is partly coverempass line, and the depth of the snow obliged me to abandon the wagons in order t_o save ruy animals . Your later orders, to examine tbe road via "Lewi and Cli...rk' ·Pa· "and the Big Blackfoot river, I only received on my return to thiR place. By information from several per on , I have learned that a yet the unexplored roads lead towards the head wat~r f the Dig Blackfoot river, an i both could be made practicable_ for wa(Yon with but little work. The fir tone leaves the Hell-Gate nrer , half mile abuve the mouth of the Big Blackfoot rirer. , er_ t ward the cama prairie, and keeping along it e . 1 Dlackfo t valley at a point below Lander's Fork. Th i certainly tl e horte ·t, mu t avoid all the Hell- :t : , a . it i tated_. offer nly on difficulty, con i tin in nt ter leaving Hell-Gate river. The econ road 1 .v v. lley at .li lint er ek; the a cent of the bor enn ntr me work, but it i y far not a teep a the o BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 129 by the lower road; and then, as my informant assu:es me, t~at only a little side-hill work in a few places and an occas10nal cuttmg of a few trees would render the road practicable for a wagon road. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. P. M. ENGLE, Topographical Engineers. CANTONMENT JORDAN, Bitter Root Mountains, W. T., February 15, 1860. Sm: I have the honor to submit the following report of my journey, undertaken pursuant to your verbal instructions of May last, to examine a route for a military wagon road across the Bitter Root mountains, from the Smakole prairie, on an east line, to the Hell-Gate defile: Furnished with such information of the route as given by certain Creur d'Alene Indians, and as described by the missionary, the Rev. Father Joset; and with the hope and view of obtaining their assistance, I started from the Dalles without delay. On the 3d of June I left the Des Chutes Landing, on the steamer Colonel Wright, and landed at old Fort Walla-Walla on the 5th, and reached the new fort on the 6th, where I found Mr. Kollecki in charge of the astronomical observatory, and who informed me that he had already despatched an Indian expressman to the Creur d' Ale:no mission for tbe necessary guides for my trip. While at Walla-Walla I endeavored to secure the services of some Nez Perces Indians to accompany me to the Hell-Gate, bl1t when I mentioned to them the particular route that I desired to examine, they represented to me that the whole region was an immense bed of rugged mountains, and over which they never heard of any person having travelled, and therefore they declined to join my party. While at Walla-Walla the Rev. Father ,Toset arrived, together with Agustine, a Ooour d'Alene Indian, who had been sent for as one of my guides. This man declared that the contemplated trip could not be under-taken yet, because the streams were too high and the snows in the mountains too deep, and that it would be impot:isible to pass over the. more difficult regions before some time in August. I insisted upon starting immediately for the examination, when Father J oset informed me that the other two guides who were necessary for the full examina-tion of the route had not yet been obtained, and that it was indeed doubtful whether they could be obtained. It evidently seems'that th~ route in question, from the accounts of all, had not been a travelled H. Ex. Doc. 44-9 130 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT one, and that no one knew the route continuously from the waters of the Snake river to those of the Bitter Root. It would seem, however, that these three were three Indians who knew the three sections of the route. These were Ko-ne-moo-say, Koahlis, and Agustine. The latter knew the more difficult mountain sections and the higher ridges. He told me that he had discov~red this sectio:n while hunting, and that he came in view of the Bitter Root valley about twenty-five miles below the Hell-Gate defile, buttha he did not descend in to the valley. Father J oset told me that the other two guides were absent for reasons that I might account for. Agustine was apparently uneasy and displeased, first, because he disliked to show the country of his people, fearing that they _would lose it; nor was he at all anxious to undergo the fatigues and difficul-ties of the trip; but when he found that the absence of the oth~r two guides was sufficient to deter me from travelling, he mustered his best will for the undertaking. -He desired to go and take leave of his family, promising to meet me at the camas plains of the Crear d' Alenes, on the 20th of ~une, when he would join me and guide me from there to some of the higher peaks of the Bitter Root mountains, in the country of his tribe, fr?m which, though probably covered with snow, I could have an extensive view over the mountains and the country generally, and saying "then you can see all and satisfy yourself.'' . As there was a probability of finding the other two guides at this same camas prairie, I decided to let him go, with the understand· ing that he would meet me on the 20th of June. While the reconnaissance from the Smakole prairie was thus :etarded on account of my Indian guides, I determined to explore the line from the point where the military road crosses Snake river to the Smakolde prairie. The map of this exploration has been compiled in the office this winter. In order that you may know the character of the country in detail, I make the following extracts from my itinerary, which were made in the fieleing, as abo1e stated, entirely destitute of timber, the Indians living along its shore have to depend entirely for fuel upon driftwood, which, at every freshet, is deposited in great quantities by the water along the river shores, and then carefully gathered by the Indians. The -valley of Snake river is so canon-like that it would be very difficult to construct a wagon road in it, for that reason alone; but then the ab-sence of timber would almost make it an impossibility for railroad purposes. These difficulties would be increased by the sudden sharp curves, which would involve long rocky excavations, or the construc-tion of bridges across the wide and rapid stream. Wagons proceeding to the upper Nez Perces country will find, though, an easy road along the north plateau, if they will keep far enough from the bluff's edge to head the ravines; water and grass are . plentiful, and also wood in patches. Leaving "Red Wolf's crossing" without being able to procure a guide, on the morning of July 4, I resolved to follow the plateau road toward.s the Pelo use river, even without assistance, rather than return with my tender-footed animals over the rocky river trail By information, I had learned of a trail leading in that . direction, and concluded to hunt for it and return by it to your camp. The trail in question gained the plateau by the Ska1aisson' s ravine, which is four and a half miles long. The trail in the ravine is bad in places, but, compared with the genrrality of mountain trails, is a good one. In four and three-quarter miles I gained the top of a small prairie ridge, and in one mile and three-tenths further I strnck a broad trail forking towards the west, which I thought was the one spoken of by the Indians After following it for nine and one-fifth miles, and passing four fine springs and a trail leading from the river towards the north, the trail I was travelling gave out, when I con-cluded to turn and follow the trail which I crossed three and two-fifths miles back, ~n search of Mr. Sohon, whom I knew to ?e encamped at Tathunah hill. It w:is 2! p. m. when I lost the trail, and I had to travel fast in order to reach Mr. Sohon's camp before night as my provisions were almost exhausted, having started with only tw~ small loaves of bread and a few pounds of boiled meat, which last was spoiled by the heat on the first day out from your camp. In ten and a half miles I cr?ssed a prairie ridge four hundred feet high; and six and a quarter miles further I struck a small grove, which I recognized as a 140 MILITARY ROAD !!'ROM FORT camping place of Mr. Sohon, on Sma-kol creek, as indicated on h' sketch, of which I had a tracing with me. Still pushing on, I crossed. in three miles and seven-tenths. Sma-kol creek, after having pas e, acamas prairie. From the crossing I went over a small prairie ridge and camped, after a ride of forty-one miles, on a creek which contained bad-tasting water in holes. No bush or sage brush was to be seen to which our animals could be tied, and we had to turn them loo·e. Mosquitoes and gnats were innumerable, and kept our horses moving all night long, so that they had disappeared the next morning far ?u' of sight, and were only found after a search of many hours. Knowmg now where I was, I determined to take Mr. Sohon's road along Sma· kol creek, and try to reach your camp that night, without hunting _u the camp of Mr. Sobon, who might have moved from Tathunah hill. Following down Sma-kol creek on its right bank for five and five-ten~s miles to the crossing point, I struck, in half a mile more, the trail travelled by Mr. Sobon, and reached, in eleven miles and three-fifths, Smokle Creek valley, which I followed down for ten and five-tenth miles. At this spot I found an Indian lodge,· and obtained, for a few rounds of ammunition, some tea and salmon. Resuming our march on !he afternoon of July 7, we camped on the Smokle creek, after havrng descended it for fourteen miles and seven-tenths; the day was very hot, and my horses quite fatigued, having made forty-twJ miles. The next morning I started at daylight, and joined your c~rnp on the Pelouse river at 10 a. m., after a march of nineteen mile,. The valley of Smokle creek having been described in Mr. Sobon : report, I think it unnecessary to refer to it here. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, P. M. ENGLE, Topographical Engineers. L ieu t. J oHN M ULLAN, U. 8. A., Com' g Fort Walla- Walla and Fort Benton Mil. Road Expedition, M. Report of a r econnaissance of the country between In-chaty-lcahn cam .. and the lower portion of Spokane prairie, and of the portion of kane river between the Omur d' .Alene trail and the (}olv ille wag road ferry . · FORT OwEN, Bitter Root Valley, W. T. , March 8, 1 60. • IR: R eceiving your instructions of September 19, 1859, re pee·-100' an examination of the country between some point we twar P wer lake and the Spokane prairie, with the view to the location 8: C7 n _road, I was delayed until the 24th of eptember by c~n-trn~e. ram torms at the main camp of the party on the T en-m r me on C ur d'Alene river at which date I tarted with one m . . ' . ri 10 (7 n two pack animals, and camped on C ur d ' Alene rir n e-ten h mile we t of the ~Mis ion . I had to remain the ne · y animals having strayed off, being found only l BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALL.A. 141 in the evening. On September 26th I reached St. Joseph's river crossing ; at evening it began to rain, and continued to do so for the night and next day, obliging me to remain in camp. On September 28th I crossed the St. Joseph's river, and followed the wagon road towards In-chaty-kahn, at which place I camped. The Cceur d'Alene Indians, who were encamped along the St. Joseph's river, an~o:yed me considerably, in stopping me repeatedly with the view of obtammg some presents. September 29th _ commenced with rain. I s~art~d early, and followed the In-chaty-kahn Creek valley downwards for six and three-fourths miles on its right bank; there crossed the creek, and kept , the left bank for one and a half mile, at which point I made two crossings but a few yards apart from each 0ther. The direction of the valley to this point is S. 86° W. No obstruction of any description vrould offer itself to the location of a. wagon road. The low prairie hills vrhich, for the first one and a half mile, closely hug the creek, recede after that distance, and leave a valley bottom of one-half mile in vridth. The creek, lined with brushwood, contained water only in boles ; but the winding bed is cut deeply, showing in different places the sign of a strong water current in high-water season. Large, open }line timber covered the low hills, which produce fine bunch grass. ~he above-mentioned first crossing of the creek cannot be avoided, as the creek makes a bend towards the north and keeps close to the hills, from which its waters have washed off the foot-Rlopes, transforming them into a perpendicular cut of ten feet in height. The two follow-ing crossings can be easily turned, occasioning only a detour of eighty to one hundred yards. In one and a quarter mile lower down, the road would enter the open timber, and one-half mile from there a crossing to the right bank would be necessary at the same point where the trail crosses, and then follow that bank for one and three quarters of a mile to a place where the trail leaves the In-chaty-kahn valley, and takes a more northwesterly direction. At the :place where the load leaves the valley, a small ridge of one and a half miles in width, "With easy ascent and descent, lying between two par~llel running tributaries of the In-chaty-kahn creek_, has to be crossed. Here a little tim1Jer cutting will be found necessary, principally on the de-iscent. In-chaty-kahn creek, a tributary of Lahtoo creek, is nine or ten feet wide, and has at the point selected for crossing a gravelly bed, '1ihich at the present season is scarcely covered with water. From the foot of the above-mentioned little ridge the road would lead for three and a half miles over undulating ground, covered with open pine timber, to a third tributary of the In chaty-kahn; and in two and a 1alf miles further, over a country of the same description, would strike a fourth one, which runs in quite a broad bottom ; part of which is llliry, and would require some corduroy work. Three-eighths of a mile from this point the trail forks ; the wagon road would follow the north fork to save an angle made by the left hand trail, which strikes the five tributaries of In-chaty-kahn creek one and three-tenths of a mtle below ~he c~ossing poi?t o±: the up:per trail.. From the forking point the trail strikes the said tributary m two miles, and the lower one in one and nine-tenths of a mile. I followed the lower trail to reach camp as soon as possible, as it had been raining all day, and we were 142 MILITARY ROAD FROM :FORT drenched and cold. This little water-run affords good camping places, with plenty of water, wood, and grass. The valley is from one hun-dred and eighty to two hundred yards wide, enclosed by low hills covered with pine timber; the creek itself being lined with willow and cotton-wood. Made 22 miles to-day. September 30.-Ascending the valley for one and one-tenth of a mile, I struck the point of the upper trail, and one-quarter of a mile from there left the valley, ascending an easy divide of 250 to 300 feet, the top of which I gained in one mile. The descent is as gradual as the ascent, but somewhat more densely timbered ; but by removing a few trees any wagon could be brought down to the creek, which flows one and one-quarter of a mile from the top of the divide in a narrow valley. At this point the road has to descend the creek in keeping on its left bank to a place where the pine timber disappeared, there it will ascend the low and gently sloping side hill, and strike, fol_low-ing almost an air line} in fl ve and four-tenths miles, the Spokane river, opposite the termination of the bluff running behind Antoine Plan!'s farm. From this point the road can follow the Spokane river o~ its left bank until within five miles of the place, where it leaves the nver altogether, and striking over the mountains pass towards the Fort Walla-Walla and Colville wagon road. No obstruction of any moment will be found to bring wagons o:7er, even in the present natural state of the ground, whereas, on the n gh~ bank, same considerable work will be unavoidable. Mr. Kolleck1 having a1ready reported to you regarding this latter section of the country over which the road would have to go, I think it unnecessary to do so aiain. The Spokane river, which I crossed at Antoine Plan~' house in a boat, I found to be eight feet deep in the channel, and big boulders in its bed. My animal having strayed off, I remained the next day at the farm, and started only October 2 for Colville depot. I camped that night at the SpJkane fi shery, near the mouth of the little Spokane river, a distance of 20 miles-having taken the mo certain route to gain that point. . October 3.-I started early., but, having mistaken the trail, I travelled for about 10 miles in the direction of Pend d'Oreille lake: and only then finding that I was wrong, I had to retrace my st~p ; but, making a short cut, I gained before evening the Spokane river: about 10 miles below my last night's camp, and, in three marcbe-arrived at the Colville depot, where I was kindly received by the officers of the post. On October 12, I made a survey of the wacron road from the Colville depot to the Hudson's Bay Company 's For · Thi road leads through" Pinkneyville," and then along Morigeau'.: ere k pa ses the saw-mill, two and a half miles distant from the depo ~nd.follo_wing the creek, which winds around a high mountain, gain~ 10 1x miles and even-tenth from the depot, the junction of the lower or low water road, which runs for some distance through Mill Cree -alley, nd . ecomes practicable for wagons onl late in the e ~-th.e pornt f junction, the di tance to the Hudson 's Bay or_ 15 il an five-tenths, making a total distance of fourteen m I o-te th , from lace to place, by the upper road. Thi wa natural one, and I doubt whether any work has been on BENTON TO, FORT WALLA-WALLA. 143 on it, with the exception of corduroy bridges, which_ were cons~ructed during the summer of 1859. At Colville I was hospitab_ly receive~ by the gentleman in charge, Mr. McDonald. In retur~rng, t_he ne~t day, I extended my sketch a little by going to the old Colvill~ Mis-sion, and to the Kettle Falls of the Columbia river, and then follow-ing the wagon road to the grist-mill, which is located on Mill creek, about a mile and a half above its mouth, at the forking of the lower and upper roads. I took the bottom road, and, having run a c~m-pass line over the whole distance, I found the lower road two miles and one-tenth shorter than the upper one. At the Colville depot I learned that Commissioner Campbell, of the northwest boundary sur-vey, with party was shortly expected, and that there was a possibility that he might go down the Columbia river. I therefore determined to await his arrival, .knowing that you were anxious and intended to have that important stream surveyed from Fort Colville to Fort Walla-Walla. Mr. Campbell, who arrived on the 16th, found that the pre-paration of the boat would occasion a long delay, and preferred, for that reason, to make the trip by land. Having obtained permission from Mr. Campbell to travel with his compaBy, I started with him and Mr. Warren on the 20th of October. In three marches we reached the lower end of Walker's prairie, where Mr. Campbell was unfor-tunately delayed for a day, by the straying off of his team mules. I pushed on and camped on the Spokane river, three miles above the ferry. I took advantage of my presence in this part of the country to run a compass line from the ferry to the place where the lower -0mur d'Alene trail to Colville leaves the Spokane river-knowing that this section had never been surveyed. I found the distance between the two points seven miles and three-tenths ; of which - miles are rendered difficult by the closing in of the side hills ; but just above the ferry a company has commenced to build a bridge, which was not completed at the time I passed. · The day was so foggy and rainy that I hardly could see across the river, which runs in quite a narrow val~ ley walled in by steep, rocky hills ; open pine timber covers the val-ley to the very edge of the water, which has a swift current over a ro?ky bed. Having made 26 miles, I camped on a small creek, three miles west of Antoine Plant's house; at this latter place, which I reached on the morning of October 25, I took an Indian to guide · me to the Cceur d'Alene Mission, where I arrived on the evening of October 28. Reverend Father Garroli kindly offered me the accommo-dation of the Mission, and supplied me the ·next morning with oats, which I needed for my weak animals-kl)owing that I would find no grass between the Mission ana your camp, which I was informed by the reverend father had been pushed to the east side of the "divide," making two more camps on this portion of the road. I joined your p~rty~ October 30, on the "Five-mile prairie," on the St. Regis Bor-gia nver. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, P. M. ENGLE, Topographical Engineers. Lieutenant J OTIN MULLAN, U. S. Army, Commanding Military Road Expedition. 144 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT N. Report of a reconnaissance from the Omur d'Alene river to Thompson's prairie, on Olark' s Fork; thence to the St. J.qnati'.us Mission ; thence along the left bank of Clark's Fork to Horse Plain; thence across the mountain to the Bitter Root river; thence up the St. Regis Borgia river, and over the high divide to the ten mile prairie on the Omur d'Alene river. FoRT OWEN, BITTER RooT VALLEY, Washington Territory, March 9, 1860. Srn: Having received, on the 18th of August, 1859, your instruc-tions regarding an exploration of a road across the Bitter Root mo1:n· tains towards 'Thompson's prairie on the Clark's Fork of the Columbia, which had been described by different persons as probably practicable for wagons, I left your camp at the Cceur d'Alene Mission on the same evening, accompanied by two Cceur d'Alene Indians, with three riding and two pack animals. At the four mile prairie of the Creur d'Alene river, where your working parties, under Messrs. Williamson and Spengler, were encamped, I joined the pal'ty of Mr. Sohon, who started for an exploration of the country towards the Bitter Root valley, and kept company with his party until the morning of f u-gust 21, when I parted with him, leaving the Cceur d'Alene river trail about twenty-five miles east of the Mission, and, following my Indian guide, we took a northerly direction, ascending a tolerably steep ravine, with running water, and enclosed by high, thickly-timbered ride-es. The little creek, which is crossed and recrossed many times by the scarcely visible trail, heads three miles from the place where 1 left the Cceur d'Alene river trail, and one mile to ~be northwest from the point where my present trail leaves it, wh1?h ascends a very steep ridge densely covered with pine trees. In a mile and three-quarters I gained the summit of the ridge, which has an elevation of 1,500 feet above the Cceur d'Alene river. To the righ of the trail runs a narrow ravine connected · by a low saddle with another running down the north Alope of the ridge; those two ravine~ could be used for the location of the road ; but the removal of rocks, and of the fallen and standing timber to the mouth of the narrow ravine would occasion considerable lab0r. At the top of the ridge I saw two valleys before me divided by a high ridge, both of which contain r~n-ning water, which joins at the termination of the ridge. In four mil~ and a half, over a very dangerous tra.il along the steep mountam slope_ , I gained the first creek, which the trail follows upward ; after er_ mg the creek, which is ten feet wide, I took the opposite m?un-tam · commencing here the ascent, all signs of a trail disappeann w h fre uently to use the hatchet to open a way for the animal : an .6. ally had to cut the entire road, the young timber being o dens th t ot even a man could have passed through. In this laborio m~nner pu bed ~>n until late in the evening, having made but_t o ile . n h lf mce I crossed the last mentioned creek, but gam. an lti ude of about 2,500 feet. I camped on the mountain slope BENTO~ TO FORT WALLA-WALL.A.. 145 a large patch of huckleberries, which proved to be quite an acceptable substitute for water; I was forced to tie up my animals to have them at hand early in the morning. August 22.-Started at 5.10 a. m. Ascended 700 feet higner, using the hatchet again for a half mile, then followed along the slope of the ridge about 500 feet below the backbone 0f it. Rock slides, fallen timber, and slippery grass made this an exceedingly difficult road. In a mile and a half we found a little spring on the hill-side, and my Indians proposed to camp, to which I gladly acceded. It appeared to me that the Indian whom you had employed as guide was a little uncer-tain about the way to proceed. We had only travelled over the trail once in winter time on snow-shoes, and the different appearance of the ground, with its difficulties exposed, evidently puzzled him. Not understanding the language, I could only converse by signs with him, but I easHy comprehended that he wanted me to stop to give him time to examine the character of the ground ahead. I further-more understood that we had to follow the crest of a -high, rugged ridge, the southerly slope of which is one rock slide from top to bottom, which lies before me a distance of about six miles. How to bring my animals over was not quite clear. Alexis, the guide, left camp as soon as I had cooked breakfast, and Nicholas, the second Inciian, collected the animals, which, at the risk of their lives, were clamuering alonO' the rocks to collect their scanty food. The country is filled with smoke and no extensive distant view could be gained, but I could discover in the chasm below me the only place where the wagon road could be located; the fallen timber and rocks are piled above each other to a considerable height, and the creek boils over and through them. The opposite ridge is well timbered, steep, and about 3,800 to 4,000 feet high, and closes in so narrowly with the ridge forming my road that no valley bottom at all is left. Towards evening clouds gathered over us, and it began to rain at nightfall. Alexis returned towards supper-time, and gave me to understand that the road ahead is bad. August 23.-I remained in camp, as it is still raining. I had to alter the cruppers of my pack-saddles, which injured my mules, and had to make some alterations in the rigging generally. In the after-noon a heavy thunder-storm passed over a portion of the mountain bed, but burst against the highest ridges, and the heavy clouds dis-appeared almost in the same direction where they come. Alexis starts out again to make a further examination. It cleared off at noon, but the atmosphere is still filled with smoke and haze. August 2~ .-Started at 6.47 a. m. The day is warm and clear, but the atmosphere is still filled with smoke. In two miles and three-qua·rters I gained_ the ~op of the ridge, ascending grad~ally, finding the same obstructions m the road as heretofore; keepmg along the. very backbone of the mountain, which at places is not wider than two or three feet, I reached in five miles and three-quarters more the highest point, which is a granite rock formation of about 3,500• feet high, with a perpendicular rock bluff to the north, and a rock lide of 60° grade to the south. On the north slope hard packed now, from two to four feet in depth, fills up the ravines and covers H. Ex. Doc. 44--10 146 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT the ground in many places where it has been drifted up during t.he winter. Four ponds, the largest one at the foot of the highest rock, gave a pleasant relief to the monotonous scenery ; a dense pine forest covers all the northerly ridges which extend towards Clark's Fork, forming one immense mountain bed, only the outlines of which can be seen indistinctly through the smoke. To the south the main ridge, which gets steeper and steeper, approaches more and more, though not so rugged as. the one I am on. It is much more heavily timbered, however. The next three miles we passed over the worst road lever travelled in my life ; the ridge runs out to a rocky crest, which gives not more than from one to two feet footing; sharp rocks, intermixed with loose stones packed upon each other, made every step insecure, and we had to proceed with great care. For two-thirds of the distance the north slope forms a perpendicular rock wall of 1,100 to 1,500 feet elevation. With hanl labor we built a kind of a road for the animals by removing the bigge·st rocks and by steadying the loose stones in the most narrow places. The descent to the low divide is steep, but no rock slides are m the way, and we gained it in three-quarters ofa mile, and encamped on the head spring of the creek which waters the · · valley. We made only 12 miles to-day, but spent 10 hours on the road ; the animals are much exhausted, and so am r; we found good grass at the divide, which itself forms a low saddle connecting the two high ridges . .August 25.-Started at 6.39 a. m. We had to gain the top of the ridge again , as it was found impossible to follow the valley which i rendered impassable by fallen timber and rocks. In one and three· quarters of a mile we reached the summit again, advancing and ascend· ing gradually, and discovered from there that the low hill forming the divide has a width of only one-half of a mile, and that the two head springs, sending their waters in opposite directions, are situated at the foot of said hill. The road on the ridge is much the same as yesterday, and at one point it was so bad that the Indian guide proposed to try the valley·unce more; we therefore descended, but before reaching the bottom we saw that it was impossible to get along in it, and had !o retrace our steps; two of my horses rolled down part. of the mountain at the point where w~ tried to descend, and one of them got hurt badly. I observed two large ponds on the north side of the ridge, and al again an abundance of more. The timber on the ridge we followed is increasing, and the fallen timber auo-ments my difficulties in gettin along ; three anc~ three-quarters mile; from the point where I gained the top of the ridge I commenced the deep descent formed by a Iona spur running towards the creek bed, which I reached in four and a half miles . In some places the slope was so steep that the anima ~ had to lide, bearing down by their weiO'ht the small pine tree and bu h. w~ich thickly covered the grouni:,d . rrhe creek at the foo o . h n ge 1 25 feet wide, carries a large quantity of water, and run 1~ a r cky ed, which i clo ely hugged by the mountain on b t ! ; at the point whern I truck and crossed the creek a den~eJ. trn ber I a. orde_r it on the ea t ide, and over this my way le to: f ur u . a h 1t 1le . Having made 14 mile I went to c m , a g tti g lat , a d y animal appeared to be much fatigue . BENTON TO FOltT WALLA-WALLA. 147 Au.gust 26.-Made a late start) my animals having straye_d 0ff du,r~ng the night. Tee road to-day leads along the creek, sometimes t~tnn_g the side hills, but for the main part keepin~ in the bottom, _which 1:-1 much encumbered by brushwood and fallen timber. 1 have ~orgot~en to mention that in striking the creek I also struck a smal~ trail, which was so blind that even my Indians lost it frequently durrng the day. Shortly after leaving camp I crossed a small tributary to the main creek coming from the south, and one mile lower down a second one from the north; three and three-quarters miles still lower a large spring branch, heading in the creek valley itself, forms a bad slough of one-quarter of a mile in width; the foot slopes of the enclosing high ridges leave room to the valley, and the creek winding from side to side forces the trail often over the little spurs. I could not form a good estimate of the altitude of the main ridge on account of the dense smoke which allowed only occasional glimpses of their tops, but I should judge that they were at least 2,500 feet high. I haJ. hoped to reach Clark's Fork to-day, but a heavy thunder-storm which over .. took us forced me to go to camp at 3! p. m., having made 16 mites; an extensive fire was raging on the 01ark's Fork, and has extended high up on the creek that I was following. All the grass is burnt, and my animals are badly off for food. At night the mountains pre-sented a magnificent picture-the rain and wind hall driven off the smoke, and fire lines, extending · high up on the mountain slopes, reaching, in some places, to the very tops of the ridges, and in others spreading with surprising rapidity over the fire-furnishing surface, gave a most fascinating aspect to the landscape. August 27.-Starting at 6½ a. m., · I passed in half a mile a large tributary coming from the north west. '11he main creek itself, now a considerable stream, with an exceedingly rapid current, sends its boil-ing water over huge rocks, which gives the bed the appearance of an unbroken rapid. ln one and three-quarters mile below camp I crossed the creek with great difficulty. rrhe water's depth was three and a half feet, and the bottom consisted of one smooth bed covered with a slippery moss which the transparency of the water permitted to be seen most plainly. The high ridges which fall back indicate the approach to a large valley, and also the suddenly changed course of the creek which so far has followed a northeasterly direction, and now suddenly changed towards the northwest. A1ter crossing the creek 1 travelled for one and a half mile over a high, rolling ground well timbered with pine, which has much suffered, though, frvm the late fires. I crossed then a small creek which empties two miles below my crossing point into the large creek which I just left. In one and a half mile 1urther I struck the shores of Clark's Fork, atter having 'Yound my way through a bed of rocky cones which have a height of from 40 to 50 feet; one-quarter of a mile above the place where 1 truck the Clark's Fork its current is obstructed by a large rapid, · which must be called a waterfall of eight feet. The opposite shore was pointed out to me at Thompson's Prnirie. In one and one-quarter o a mile more I found a suitable camping place with some grass along he water's edge. The opposite shore is in full blaze, and the wind bowing from the west drives the flames, unfortunately, in the direction 148 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT which I have to follow. Several deer are forced to swim the river in order to escape the fire, which extends to the water's edge. August 28.-Remained in camp. We collected material to build a raft, and before noon we had constructed a kind of floating structure, very fragile indeed, but my Indians think it is more than strong enough to do its duty. The fire is still raging on the opposite shore, but has extended more towards the north. ·August 29.-In two trips I landed everything safely on the right bank of Clark's Fork; and after having swam the animals, Itook up a line of march along the shore of the river, which has a width of two hundred yards. In three miles I reached a small but rapid runnin_g creek, which I crossed at its mouth. On the left bank of the river 1 a high, almost perpenoicular rock connected with the high river ridge, which gradually has neared the river shores by a well-timbered slope of 1,500 feet elevation. The right shore forms a large plain, which, from the water's edge to the bluff, must have an extent of three or four miles ; but I could not make an estimation of its width, as every-thing is enveloped in smoke. In one and three-fourths miles from the creek crossing the rocky bluffs of thP right bank close into the river and render the trail difficult for three-fourths of a mile. The road is then easy for four miles, and is only now and then obstructed by thick brushwood ; at the end of that distance I crossed a small creek, and two miles higher up I struck a point, which will be well remembered by all who have ever passed it, called the "Bad Rock." It is formed by a rock point running out to the very water's e~ge, terminating there in a perpendicular bluff. The Indian trail, which, in its present location, offers undeniably great difficulties to the animals, winds high up on the bluff side and regains in the same serpentine manner the bottom, about three' hundred yards above the place where it left it. I am confident that, with comparatively l!ttle work, a good wagon road could be made; but it would certarnly rnqui~e bla ting for a distance of one hundred and fifty to two hun· dred yards. In three and three-fourths miles, which were made over a~ almost level road, with tbe exception of the last three-fourths of a m1~e, whe:e the trail passed a few insignificant, low, rocky s_pur , I gamed a little creek, where I camped having made sixteen miles . .Augu t 30.-Started at 6.50 a. m.' In one and a half mile from camp the low foot-hills of the high river bluffs close into the river a a point where I noticed another river rapid, and which render the roan omewhat rocky for one mile, but offering no serious ob tacle. The oppo ite mountain ridge has been getting lower and lower, an h_a finally dwindled down to a low hill range. The high bluffs of the ~ight bank recede and give place to a large, extensive flat, which only rn ome laces i covered with open pine forest. Having reached he Ko t nay trail,~ ]eft the riv_er, and, shaping my course more no; _h-ea ~war llr, I gamed the Indian road leading to the cama prame. Thi P rti n f the country having been often described in forme ~ I or t I ;11fine my elf to the recapitulation of the main groun 1~tlc r no difficulty will be found to bring the wauon r ion f he r ute until the ravine i reached which le to the cam a prairie; there heavy grading for one m · BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 149 will be necessary, as the hill-sides are steep and the soil is intermixed with rock. Having ascended the steep river bluff one hundred and fifty feet hi~h, I reached in one and three-fourths mile the top of low-timbered plateaus which run along a valley bordered to the north-west by a ridge of 1,100 to 1,500 feet of altitude. The plateau is covered with weeds, sending its waters through the above-mentioned ravine towards the camas prairie, where it sinks into the ground. The plateau itself runs along the foot slopes of the ridge, which gradually increases in height, and finally gains an altitude of 1,200 feet, terminating at the lake, from which point the trail leads over foot-hills for two and three-fourths miles, and then takes, after cross-ing the creek, to the north slope of the ravine. Of the different trails which lead over the camas prairie, I chose the one which runs along its southwesterly border, which is marked by a timbered ridge of about 1,200 feet. In half a mile from the mouth of the ravine I crossed the creek, and then travelled for six and a quarter miles, over almost level ground, to the top of a small prairie elevation. In one and three-fourths mile further I crossed a creek running in a valley, with easy ascent and descent, and two miles further I gained the valley of Clark's Fork by a gradual and easy descent. At this place I found a well-beaten trail which led to the river crossing; we tried the ford, but found it too deep, and I concluded to ascend the Flathead river to its intersection with the Jocko river, and effect a crossing there. Having made twenty-four and eight-tenths miles, I went to camp a quarter of a mile above the place where I struck the river. My Indians seem to be uncertain in which direction to proceed ; but having a map along, I soon convinced them by signs that we had to ascend the valley in view to gain the St. Ignatius Mission. August 31.-Started at 6.53 a. m. One-fourth mile above camp I crossed a creek which runs in a narrow ravine and heads about' three miles to the north on the camas prairie. One mile and a quarter above that creek the river widens to double its extent, and is split up by a great many islands of different size, and well covered with brush-wood. Here my Ind_ians tried again to cross, assuring me that the roacl was much better on the opposite side ; but the depth of the water forced us to turn back, and taking up our road again, we had to mount a high river bluff with a steep and rocky descent. Then skirting along the water's edge I gained, at five miles and three-quarters fr'.)m my last night's camping place, a fine bottom of three miles in length, again hemmed in by the river bluffs. For a mile and a half the trail gains a plateau, which, after rounding a ,projecting rock, strikes the river at the usual fording place, two miles above the tnouth of the Jocko river, in three miles. Here I crossed with.much difficulty, and not without drenching my packs. Instead of ascending the valley of the Jocko river, as my Indians intended to do, I ascended t f: Clark's Fork for one and a quarter mile further, and then fol-lowed " Plum creek," knowing that it was the shortest route to reach he Mission. At the entrance of "Mission creek" into "Plum creek" I struck a large lodge trail, which brought me to the place o my destination. I was most kindly received by Reverend Fathers inetrey and Louis, and hospitably invited to stay as long as I de-150 MILITARY ROAD FROM FORT Fired. I made to-day twenty-one miles and a half. My animals are very tired, and two of the horses I shall be obliged to trade off. l-,'eptember 3.-Reverend Father Congiato arrived from Fort Benton, and left. September 5.-I ieft the Mission in company with Reverend Fathers Congiato and Minetrey, who intended to visit the Creur d' A]ene Mi~sion. In four miles and a half I struck the Jocko river, and after crossing it, followed down Clark's Fork on its left bank for 16.4 miles, and camped, having made 20. 9 miles . The road alo~g the river, with the exception of one point where a mountain closes rn for one-fourth of a mile, is a very good one. rrhe ground is level, firm , and not rocky. The small . creeks, with gravelly bottom and fine grass a.Jong their shores, afford good camping grounds. September 6.-Started at 6.44 on the trail. After passing the crossing point opposite the place where the road leading towards the camas prairie ascends the bluff, it becomes more and more indistinct, as it is very seldom travel1ed by Indians. Many rocky and swampy places make the road a difficult one ; and a bad rock spur, perpen-dicular foot slope, which is washed by the river waters, forces the - trail over a high and stone-covered mountain, which is almost as bad as the "Bad Rock" above Thompson's prairie. In two places where no ascent to the ridge can be gained, and the river runs close to the bluffs, the trail ]'€ads alon~ the river bed with a depth of w~t~r from two and a half to three feet. Thirteen miles below the camasprame trail crossing I struck the Bitter Root river, which appears to flow through a narrow valley enclosed by high mountains. I effected a crossing at the junction of the two rivers without any difficulty, and followed down Clark's Fork seven miles and a quarter further · which portion of the road is good, and only made disag:eeabl~ to travel by the dense brushwood. I camped on the shores of the 1:iver and on the upper end of the "Horse Plain," having made 20. ~mil~· September 7.-Rtarted at 7.27 a. m., and took a straight, magnetic, soutb_er_ly course, to gain the top of the mountain ridge which fo~ms the d1v1de of the waters of Clark's Fork the Bitter Root, and the St. Regis Borgia rivers. The ascent and de~cent are in some places very steep, and rendered difficult by fallen timber ; but the trail is well marked and broad. r:rhe distance from river to river I estimated at ten miles and a. half, and the height of the ridge at 1,500 feet. A · cending the Bitter Hoot river valley for eight miles, in which I met with no difficulty on the road, I went to camp, having made eighteen a_nd a half miles . I observed two small rapids in the ~itter Root river, an which has a small water-course (now dry) passing down it. Followed this for four miles, where it debouches into the valley of Cow creek. Here we entered the travelled road leading from Walla-Walla .:to Colville. From the Aspen camp to Cow creek, 19.8 miles by odometre measurement, the roai follows a series ot alkaline bot-toms and the valley last referred to, passing over good ground. The crossings of tne dry water-course in the valley only will require a few hours work. The Colville road, going towards Snake river, follows down the valley of Cow creek for about two miles, when it ascends to the upper plateau three hundred foet, and then continues along a valley for ti ve miles, when it ascends a steep hill five hundred feet high; continues wo miles over a ridge, and in two more reaches the Pelouse, which · a general camping ground at this point, although wood is scarce, nd in the latter part of summer and fall the grass becomes eaten off 168 MILITARY RO.AD FROM FORT for miles around. By driving across the river an abundance of grass is found close at hand From this point to Snake river, twelve miles, the road ascends to a plateau three hundred feet high, and then continues until within a mile and a half of Snake river, when it descends by a couple of steep pitches through sandy ground to the river banks. This distance of twenty-three miles between Snake river and Cow creek is the worst portion of the road, but is continually travelled by the teams supply-ing Colville, Harney depot, and the north west boundary commission. Snake river at the crossing is four hundred yards wide, and the flying ferry, running on a three-inch wire rope, se~ves as a very secure and speedy communication from bank to bank. Having thus terminated my reconnaissance, the above report is respectfully submitted by your obedient servant, W. W. JOHNSON., C. E . ., &c. Lieutenant JOHN MULLAN, U. S. A., in charge of Fort Walla- Walla and Fort Benton Mil. Road Ex. Respectfully submitted to Captain A. A. Humphreys, United States topographical engineers, War Department. JOHN MULLAN, First Lieut. 2d Artillery, in charge of lJfilitary Road Exp. CAMP AT FORT WALLA-WALLA, W. T., October 26, 1860. s. CAMP AT NEW FORT WALLA-\VALLA, October 20, 1860. Srn: I have the honor to present the following report of an exami-nation of the Little Falls of the Spokane, made by me on the 22d of September last, in connexion with a reconnaissance from the ~reur d'Alene Mission, via Antoine PJante's to Snake river, in compliance to your instructions of the 13th ultimo. . '!1110 Spokane river flows from the Camr d'Alene lake} and 1s a stream of from 150 to 250 feet in width. Its present level is about 15 feet below its banks, and the water is shallow. It is fordable at the first rapids, which are some four miles below the lake, whence to the Little Falls, a distance of four miles more} the stream flo ws over a succession of light gravelly rapids, from one to three-quarters of a mile apart. At the Little Falls, eight miles below the lake, the i:iver has forced its way through a mass of granite rock 90 feet in height and 900 feet long. The channel through tnis rock being about 60 feet wide, pa sing straight in its course, with perpendicular walls on each side. The left bank, at the falls, is a wall of from 80 to 90 fee; high above the water, while the right is perpendicular for about lo feet, when it breaks off and rises less precipitously to a height of from 30 to 40 feet above water level. The stream enters this channel, or ,\ (' ___ -!2 __ II I .\/ Sl{('lc 11 of II , I l'I ILi : F.\1.I.S ()lo' Till-: SP(W\.'J-: I, . (}. dur 11n t J.r Ju /111/rw f • oo too go 80 70 60 So i'tO 3o 20 10 ~-------300 :\. (J ,., !,Otl/JiltldttWI Sr·f'l/o!L from I( l o /, . Jfori.untlal a11d l 'rrt/c(lt ,'-,'ra/f' liJ r S(·dt O/lS ~~ -1. ,\. 1 200 \.,, ·> - .. ,..) Srd1011 limn J l lo fJ .c1 1 / ·i f'f'llOII fhllll {() J) X? 5 Sectic11i on the line¥ lzowin,g //lf' strt'tart at lu/Jll water Horizontal and rtrtical Scal e ~o~o£;ee=.t ==~3o~"===;;:;;;;;;;~200~===~=;;;::;c;;!OO~=-~ t ilh. ot./ /li('lt , IIJOJfroadwa_y 71 '. r BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 169 canon, by a fissure, F, (see accompanying sketch,) about eight feet wide between the rock island E and the projecting rock G. A small stream forces its way through an opening blocked up by the boulders 1, 2, 3, 4. These streams unite below the island E. The basin above the falls is about 140 feet wide and from 25 to 30 feet deep, forming a reservoir, which discharges itself through the fissure F, the orifice being 8 feet wide by 10. deep. This empties into a narrow rocky channel, which is about 15 feet below the level of the basin above. The water rushes in foam . through this channel, which is about 30 feet wide, and in 100 feet falls some 15 or 20 feet more over large boulders. The stream thence is confined. in the canon of 60 feet width, and flows through it with a more gentle current for about 600 feet, when it debouches into a basin about 200 feet in diameter, whence it flows over a succession of light gravelly rapids, as before, towards the Columbia, The ordinary rise of water above the falls is 15 feet, but the highest flodd-mark is some 25 feet above the present level. At high water the rocks H and I, forming the canon of the river, become islands ; for the water, after rising 8 feet, flows around on either side, having a channel 150 feet wide, now dry, on the left bank, at the southern foot of the granite rock I, and on the right bank a channel of 50 to the north of the rock H. The general cross section will show the appearance of the stream at high water. . . If the rock island E, which is 60 feet long and 15 feet m height, with a mean width of 10 feet, the boulders 1, 2, 3, 4, and the low rock G, (see section AB,) be removed, the river would have as free a channel at low water as it now has after having risen five feet; and the conclusion is, that the water being thus allowed to pass off ~apidly when it first rises, and the channel increasing in dimensions with the rise of the river, sufficient clearance will be had to prevent the great rise to which the river and lake are now subject, and relieve the valu-, able and extensive lands bordering the lower Creur d'Alene and St. Joseph's rivers from that overflow which at present rend~rs the!11 impassable and unfit for agricultural or other purposes until late m the summer. The amount of land so reclaimed would be about fifty square miles, or an area of 32,000 acres, all of wh_ich ~s well adapted both by soil and climate to all the purposes of cultivation. . It is estimated that an appropriation of $5,000 would be sufficient to defray all the expenses of the work. . The above is respectfully submitted for your consideratrnn by your obedient servant, N O E &;c • W. W. JOHNSO , · '·, · Lieutenant JOHN MULLAN, U. S . ...4., . d E In charge oj Fort Walla- Walla and Fort Benton Mil. Roa q,. H. Ex. Doc. 44-12 170 MILITARY . ROAD FROM FORT The foregoing throws additional light upon the subject of the removal of the higher Spokane, with a view of improving the line of the military road via the valleys of the St. Jmieph's and Camr d'Alene, to which I have several times called the attention of the department, being sanguine in the belief that not only will the road be much improved, but a valuable tract of 32,000 acres of beautiful soil thus reclaimed. If it be within the legitimate province of the de-partment to take any action in the matter, I trust the subject may be brought before Congress in connexion with our present operations. JOHN MULLAN, 1st L£eutenant 2d Artillery. CAMP AT WALLA-WALLA, W. T., October 31, 1860. T. The following is a statement of the character and amount of work performed on the military road from Fort Walla-Walla to Fort Benton, under direction of Lieutenant John Mullan, U. S. A., during the summer and fall of 1859. From Fort Wa11a-W alla to Snake river, at the mouth of the Tu-kanon, distance forty-nine miles, the road passes over the natural surface of the ground. Soil is clayey. High rolling hills occur on the line of the road, and their summits are gained by easy ascents. Two streams occur in this distance which will require bridgin g, viz: the Dry and Touchet creeks. Length of bridges requireds seventy-five feet each. Snake river is crossed by a ferry-boat. Width of stream is a quarter of a mile. The ascent from Snake river to the high plateau table land is steep, but cannot be avoided. It is easily overcome by doubling teams. · From Snake river to the St. Joseph's river, near its entrance to the Coour d'Alene lake, a distance of one hundred and nineteen and five-tenths miles, the road passes for sixty-three miles over soil of the same character as before mentioned, through a gently rolJing prairie regio~, bordered by high plateaus. The remainder of this distance, fi fty-s_1x and five-tenths miles, is through open pine timber, with gravelly soil. The road, on nearing the St. Joseph's, was cut through timber for some six miles, and was graded, for a hundred feet, through limestone rock. The descent to the valley of the St. Joseph's is made along the backbone of a spur of the mountain . range, and a substantial bridge, sixty feet long, was thrown across a slough or branch of t he river. A :flatboat, capable of transporting a loaded wagon and fou r yoke o cattle, was built, and remains at the crossing of this river for the u e of the subsequent trains. A low, level :flat exists for about six mil~ along the St. Joseph's river, across which wagons cannot pass until towards the middle of July. Means for obviating this will be here-after pointed out. From the St. Joseph's to the Coour d'Alene river di tance ten and eight-tenths miles, the road lies over a gravelly rollioa plateau, covered with open timber, through which t he road wa cu BENTON TO FORT WALLA-WALLA. 171 and cleared to obtain the most direct line. The rise to this plateau is easy, and the descent to the valley of the Ooour d' Alen~ river was accomplished by side-hill grading, some ten thousand ~ubic yards of excavation being done at this point. _The flats borde_rmg the Coour d' .Alene river are followed up for ten mil~s,_a~d are subject to the s~me overflow as those of the St. Joseph's. 'I his 1s caused ~y the b_ackmg up of the Coour d'Alene ]ake, its outlet, the Spokane river, bemg too small to admit of the rapid passage of the large body of water created by the melting snows of the mountains, which, from a ve~y large e~-tent of country, are drained into the lake by these two rivers. It 1s d_eemed practicable to enlarge this opening at the falls of _the Sp~kane river by blasting, so that the waters of the lake anq. . rivers will be lowered some three feet, and a very beneficial result will also ensue to the Indian tribes, by allowing the salmon to enter these waters and add to the stores of their now scanty and precarious subsistence. The amount of work required for this purpose cannot now be stated, but it is deemed to be practicable at no very great outlay. From the first crossing of the Creur d'Alene river, nine miles below the Mission to the camp of party, fifty-eight miles east of the Mission, the road has been constructed through a heavily-timbered region up the valley of the Creur d'Alene river, across the divide of the Ooonr d'Alene mountains, and down the valley of the St. Regis Borgia river, to within thirteen miles of the Bitter Root river. The soil is gravelly. Nearly one hundred crossings have been made of both rivers, which must be bridged in order to render the road passable at all seasons of the year. High water lasts from the beginning of May to the middle or end of June, during which time travel is suspended. All of these crossings can be bridged without difficulty. The banks are high, and timber i_s abun?ant as well _ as convenient. The average length of these bridges will be fifty feet each. The bridge over the Bitter Root river, which is indispensable, will be two hundred and fifty feet long, and . should be. constr~cted at an early day. A flatboat is already provided for this crossrng. The amount of excavation done on the divide of the Coour ?' Alene mountains was about forty thousand cubic yards , ~nd the entire am_ount done on the road during the season is about sixty thousand cubic yards. There are some two miles of road to be relocated and altered, whereby two crossings of the river will be avoided and a better road made. • The width_ of the road as.cut and cleared through timber is from fifteen to twenty feet, and its length constructed this season, from Fort Walla-Walla to Cantonment Jordan is two hundred and fifty-eight miles. ' Respectfully imbmitted. W. W. JOHNSON, 0. E., Fort Walla~ Walla and Fort Benton Mil. Wagon Road Exp.

Military roads -- Kansas

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Military roads -- Kansas

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