Highway from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. : Speech of Mr. Benton, of Missouri, in the Senate ... February 7, 1849.

Page 8

' 4 • 7 • d !21.) "' hada r1~","1! t ful ride alonr"r a good trail amon~ the /1 a country suitable for the habitations of civilized 1 . fmurant pine..: and tht> ;~ppearnnee of 1111111 1o "· '!!r ('•n tn>u m- I man. b~r~ 'indieat<~J that there were fndia11s in ti!P ::::outh 1 "~~' I A third expellition took place. Still pursuing by whrun tlwy were driven out. W<~ halt<•d to 11001~ .~!111 ~~ the idea of findino- a route further south Mr. Frc- 1 1 d r c pines and the wt•atlll'r wa.:: IIIO~t 1 'U' 1 b • h A l ' · }~~"' ~j\~ ~n~':;;~Y wa". h~1·rally alive \\'lth bufihlo1 aiiCl the 1 mont went out upon the lnte of.t e r mnsas :1ver, contiunrd c{'ho of' the hunters' rifles o".the_otlrcr :-Hin of the I and found a remarlmbly stra1gh.t course qutte to river for a momcutI ma'tdl e Imnde iaunn.c ai'yT, htell lutln<'d!1 gw paesr l1uaoiJo:l d tahnatt ! the bay of San Francisco. In Ih ts m. ap th.a t rouIt e tthhecy wcto'urenrtrty~g J·n•!te!r~rl.< l~lnvl'!', and ·a t ::; .Jug.lH. fi1 ll ·w_,r enca"1 11r·ul ·In i~. laiddow. n ' antlt.h ebarometereevattonsrnr tve. n. n an opt•n pl:icc a 1110 n~ tiH' pine~, wlll'r~ w~: bUJit a .. tron!! fo~t: hts rnem?u· there 1.s, at page 56, a table o_f l~tttudes Thr n1ountains exhibit their usual vanPd gro\\'th of fl_owcr~' and longttudes, wllhou t more than a vanutton of a and at tilts place 1 uoticed, among other.-_, l~wr:nopm 1~on- decrree or so on each side through seventeen degrees tana WIIO~e brirrht yellow color makes It .l :showy p .lilt. b . II h . f <::! L . 'l'hi/ha;; b'r•cn a ~ll(lractrriHic in many part:" of the. c.ountry of longitude. At a t e great potnts rom ...,t. ou.ts siuc(' rrachin" the U-in-lahwater:.:. With heltlR of.t:tswere to the head of the Arkansas, thence to the pu~3 10 aq~tifr~i·t cren~lia, ~iol!'t:<, .e.!'pnrr<'lte, and :-~r:~,,~hcrn~s. ~Y. I the SierraN evada, and to the bay of San Francisco, the LPmpcmture o! the bo.llm~ water th~ ele' <~.uon ht r: ".a, 390 is nearly the line throughout· and in point of 10,1:10 rert, auf! sull the 11111P. torest conurJU_<·tl.lnd gras:. '~as I . . ' ' d. b · good. (Oia111eter of the Middle Park 60 nule~.") dt.t·ectnes~, nothtng bet~er e?uld be aske , ut It The ass from the Middle to the South Park, at \\'Ill requ1r~ u comp:uattve vtew of all the ro~tes to an e Ie vptt ti.O n o f 11 ,2 00 fieet ' \Vas still ~o:~- ood ' and be able to JUdge between them. The head nf the 'I r . 1 1 · f 9 40 fi • cast y crosseu.1 . It I·S tl1 u s u·'e scr'tbed.· Adm.n sas was tOUnud aft anh e e·v at.w n od , eet, "In the afternoon (June 22) we continued our roa1l-oc- but. Jt was the hea o. t e nvet, an not a pass, cao;10nally through open pines, with a very !!rarlual a;;rent. wh1ch was then the Object. . We l'illrpri>i~·d a hrrd of huffitln, enjoyin~ tlw shade at a ~mall The whole upper half of the Ark a OS!\S I JCS on distance ttiiiOllg tl1e pine~; aud they lllade the <~ry bnu.JC!Jes the ricrht line for a road to the bay of San Fran-crack :t.'l tht•y hrokc through the WOO<k In a ndc of alJ!)Ift . b d r I M' . (i· tlllt'l· q11arter:; ofnn !tour, aud having a_~~l'~drd _IH·rhaps ~00 c.tSL\0. 4- few egrees west o t.1e 4 tss~un 1 on­feet w<· rc•arhed the s u ~rmT of the r!JvJdiiiJ::' ndgr, whJc•h tter the nver l)(•nds north to latitude 3SO, and the wo1:1_11 thus have .a" c~timated hri~llt or_ 1 L,20? '-~!ct.. H;re parallels of 380 or 390 cut the river from thence itnh!e! n1w vrarr~lyp~ 1rn.a dths eJ t~Selllfll •llnl~llot "o"f~ atlhlel )rn~dncghrc,: ,W; all~l td'h s p'"~ mlgic"_J,e h vee.trdy: to its heat!. Beyond the h eatl of the A rlmn sas the 0 . I . I unrrow. Jnunediat<.:ly IH·low u:~ was a _green vallt•y, ~hi'Ou!.!h I parallel of ?9 sttl.l touches, or near y npp1 oa.c 1es which ran a ,;trcam; and at a short dt~tauce orpo-ttP rn:>e- all the lead1no- potnts to the Pass 1n the Stet·ra mauy lHOUlltnin!-: who,;e R~lllmit~ were fom 11 cl into rc:nk:s of Nevada thm~crh the ~enter of the gold rrgion, and Jlai-ed rOd\. \Ve S()l)f1 after l"atJ,;fifd our~f'IVC:3 thai llllll!C- I s' f s"' F . . M. F ·• 't . tl . diatcly beyond these mou11tain:; w:t t~H; ""~in IJ;·ancl~ of the to.t 1e ay o .. an 1anctso. ~. IC~lon , m liS Arknn~a.; lWtr- mo::t prohably hcndlll'-: dJrt' Ctly wrth the thu·d expetlttton, went on a stratght lll(e from the littiP -.trram hrlow us, which gathPJ Nl it.,; w;~t<'r:'; in rhe snowy frontier of M is::>ou ri, near I.nd epen'deh ce, to the monntaiJ!!! ncar hy. Ill about a quarter of nn_ hour we de- Day of San Frnnrisco anti found a practicable ~>Ct>rHietllnto the creek hclow, our road h:tYJlll! been very . . ' much controiiPd.and interrnptl'd hy tlw pine::: and ~pringsou way Rnd .an tnhab1t~ble ~ountry. . . . the n1ouutain :;idr; and, turuin:zup thP !'trt•afll, c·ncamped in Returntng- frpm l11s tbu·d expedtLwn, and hetng a hottnm of~ood g-ra::_s near its head, nnd~r the· ~lividiu~c:e,;t no Jono-er in the public service, l\1r. Fremont hns of ll<l' Rocky Mnuut:uns. By the oh3ervattnll,: of tlw cverl!ll!!, d . ~ 1 , r . h 1 · - 1 ense the I ali UHlt: of nur l!nPnmpment wa~ :.l!Jo :W' 2 I", and south u n et ttt ... en a 1 ou It one, at liS own ex I : " of 1\'hich, therrfi>rr, is the head of the Arl<an:<a:; rivt>r. (The Attended by the devoted men who had been with Jlrxty••ar'~ expedition round tlw l11•nd of the Arknn~:·~ ex- him so lono- and unwilling to leave incomplete a nauctt!l ya tw ahne rcel esvnaptpl(n).n5 codf .. in 39o 20' 38'', longitude 106o '2i' J5" , work in \;hich he had been eno-no-ed for seven 9 480 feet." I 0 0 1 } tl . ' years, he hAs now gone as far south as t 1e 1ea Thts pRss led from the waters of t~e Gmnd ~ark I of the Rio Gmnde del Norte, to explore thP. pusses of the. Colorado of. the West, (wh1f'h coHect mto at the head of that river, and the nr'rroximation the Mtddle PRrk,) mto the South Park, w~ere the ofthe waters of the Colorado o[the 'Vest. Though South Fork of the Great. Plutre cnlle~ts Its first without Government assistance, yet, with the aid waters. The South Park JS next descnbed: of his old comrades, he will complete the exami- " On lhe next day we Sden:d>che nPdacrdk .t he l'trenm by n.n excel- nation of the mountain passes, antl of all the coun-lent hutf.llo trail, along the open !l'r.ts~y bottom or the river. try between the Mississippi and Pacific, antl thus On our right thr. l111y:m (as call,.d hy the eal'ly FrPliC'h I fulfill the original purpose for whic.h he sought and lmnters) was honlen•d by a mountainou;; ran~!', crc~lt'd I obtained this distant and perilous work, in prefer-with mcky and naked peaks; and below it h'i\d a beautiful b · 1 tl b 1 · · d f park-like character of pretty level prairiP~, int•·r~p,-r,..cd ence to etng emp oye a out t 1e Cities an ron-nuwng low f'rur~, woodt'd, openly, with pine and qual<in~ tiers. a.<p, contrasting- well with the dl!ll~cr pinrR which ~wept It is Rpproprinte to say, l\1'r. President, that it Proeuank1 ! hoand tbhree nm poluanintnlyin i n:- idveiesw. bDeufroiren ~u .th; ea nndft,c rfrnoomon o Puri kern1s- seems to have been a Providence that a youn1g man Callliii~Wnt, hore nortll 87° ea~t by CO!ltpas~. The next day with a head and a heart for this work shoulc, upon we 11 It tlu~ ri\'(~r,w!Jich coJJtinuf'd it1; Pour;;e toward~ Pike':; his own application, have undertaken it seven years Peak ; and takitJc:a ~Oilthea~tly direction, in about tPn miles ago; that he should have attached to his person fwoue nedr o~;;l:-l;erlsle lav ~g'Psn ~ltnerviorllwge::,tl aannd1 0ian.·gu ituh~ef rbormo ktth•ne S;;opmuTsn uPfA RthKe, thirty men, the children of the mountains, who mouu1a111~ wll1ch border the ~n·atplain:.>. Although hroken wet·e able to show him everything, and who did au~l C\trc llll'ly rug!!~·cl, the f'Onutry wa..; very intcre~ting, show him everything; who still adhere to him; nbenmfl cc: owyearur•drP dw ibthy lgllrl:nt Hs· raonud" aaf lvlanrrinettsy oofr tthrrr..c •As. rl<Iann ,tnhse rdivNl·•rp, and, by thfe ir· jod int e1x <:rtions· , we havhe , at the very J 11 · tieC'ltHon of tht>se IJttlc ~trNnn. ·we ro1111 (] alwayR an abund- moment o ne(; , at t 1e vct·y mstant w en t 1c pu J tc an~ pa.:t11rn~1·, and n wild l11xuriance Qf plant:< aull trcP.s. mind has ripened up to the point of commencing t(hDi1rtnym cm:tri.lre so.f" )t he South Park ' like that of the North Park ' the work, all the information upon our hunds which the occasion rer1uires. Thus there Rre no less than three dilferent passes Without disparagement to any one, I may be in about two degrees and a half, from about 410 20' allowed to say that a young man who solicits this down .to 3~0, traversed and described by Mr. Fre- work; who takes these hardships and dangers in mont 1n l11s return from his second expedition; preference to the easy work of the frontier or the and these:: not only easily accessible, but run throu~h city; who goes into it as a. matter of love, of choice, 5 anc.J not of duty and o~ligation; who carried with / ing th~ people for the use of it. If thry should him a sririt of exploratiOn m~ch greater than co~ld make Jt. they arc to tux u~ f?r the use of it-tax be found in the me~·e e~ecutton of' ~~n order~ wtth the people ei_~ht ot· _ten mtlltons a year for using thirty such men wtth Jllm, would J;IV~ to ht~ e:~- 1 the road whtch the1r own money built. A fine plnrations a thoroughness of exam~nallon whtc~ 1s :5C~eme, that! But they would never build it-not to be expected from any deta1led officer Wtth nenh_er themselves nor their assigns. It would all his detail of soldiers. end tn stockjobLing. I repudiate the whole idea The great point upon ~vhich ~ now rest, Mr. sir. 1 g-o for n ~ntional highway, no stockjobl.Jing' President, is, that there ts n~thmg mor~ to be I am, Mr. Pr~st~ent, fot· a centr~l highwuy-cen­lcarncd or known; that, by a lund of Provtt.lence, trul, because 1t JS the one that JS most nntionnl, there has been brought to our knowledge every- and accomrnodatcs the greatest numbn of persons thino- thut is necessary to be known to enable us 1 -central because the road admits of branc.hcs to to agt, and that the great idea which has possessed the right and left, and the bill which I propose to every Power which has e~er been domin_ant. in I bring in provides for one of these branchrR to North America, that of an mland communtcatton Oregon, and another may be added for New Mcx­across the continP.nt, is now ripe to be realized. ico. It is in view of the fact that we are now ripe for 1 I ~o, then, for a centml national road from the action, that I ask leave to bring' in a bill for action. Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi river; anti, fortu- The leading idea of the bill, Mr. President, is a nutely, we find all the localities of the country pre­national, central road, a highway, not merely for cisely such as a national central road woultl re­ourselves, but for our posterity, for all time to quire. come, and for the nations of Europe and Asiu as The bay of Snn Francisco, the finest in the well as ourselves. world, is in the center of the western coast of The road which I propose will be national in its North America: It is central, and without a rival. character-in all its features a11d parts; national, I It will accommodate the commerce of that coast, becuuse no private resources are equivalent to such both north nnd south, up to the frozen reo-ions and a work, nor private hands fit for it. Nothing hut 1 down to the torrid zone. It is central in that the autlrority of a nation is equal to the opening 1 respect. The commerce of the broad Pacific Ocean of a road through some 1,600 miles of country, will center there. The commerce of Asia will occupied by Sl'tvages, with a right of domain over center there. Follow the same latitude across the it, which it re(~uires national authority to ex tin- 1 country, ancl it strikes the renter of the valley of guish. No pnvate means would ue equal to the the Mississippi. It strikes tl1e Mississtppi 1.1ear constrnction of such a road, or fit to be tru::-1ted with the confluence of all the great waters which ron­it. No private authority is equal to the question centrale in the valley of the Mississippi. It come::~ reKultint; fro1~1 the obligation of procuring the title / to the center of the valley. It qomes to St: Louifl. from the lndtUns, and of protectmg the road after 1 Follow thG prolongation of that centrnl l1ne nntl it was made. you find it Clttting the heart of the great Stales l look, upon it, Mr. President, that all proro- ·/ between the Mississippi river and the Atlantic sitions .to have tl1is road mnde as a private road by Ocean. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, a part of Virginia, individuals or companies are utterly condemned Kentucky, and Pennsylranin-they are nll trav­by the magnitude of the undertaking, by the ques- ersed or touched by that great central line. tio~ of lndinn title and possession, and by the im- The bill which I ask leave to bring in, Mr .. Pres­poltcy anti illegality of sendintr indiviquals to treat ident, fixes the tcnnini of this road-the uegtnntng with Indiana. All these thi~gs require national j and the entling. After what I have said,. it is h?rdl_y met\11 , national authortty, antl no individual:; necessary for me to add that the starn.ng po~nt ~::1 could be competent to undertake it, even if there the bay of San Franci3co, anti the er t<.ltng pomt ts was a prorriety in putting such a road into the the city of St. Louis. The road is t9 co~1nect ~he hands of in~ividuals, to become their pt·ivate prop- ocean navigation at the bay of San Frunc1sco wt_th e~ry. I ent11·ely, sir, as from the beginning, repu- the Mississippi, near the confluence ~f tl_1e M_ts­dmre_ all schemes of private projectors \vith respect souri. Prom St. Louis it i:;; in comm~ntcatJon wllh to tlus roa_d. ~or have I seen any scheme pre- all the States ,untl cities of. this Umon. It there sentetl which dt~l not hear upon its face the e\'i- goes into communication with all the t~·ansporta­denc_ e of total rncompetence on the part of the tion of the great valley of the. West, tn cars ?r applicants to. cany out tile enlerpt ise, and a de- /s teamboats, all of which finds Its g-reat center: 1_n sign lo n:ake 1t a great stock-jobbing busine s, to St. Louis. When the mad has arr1ved .ther~ , It IS be sold m the markets of Europe and America. in communication with ev~ry .g-rea~ pomt m the They all ask for themselves, and their assio-ns. I crreat 1Vest,and in communtcat!On w1th every great ~Vhy_ ask for assigns, unless for the sake of n~go- point upon the Atlantic .. lt i~.fini~hed whe.n it is ttabdny? Why do they want negotiability, except there; for private enterpnse IS do1~1g, or ~dl tlo, to make market of our law? 1Vhy o-o into the the remainder. 1Vhen this great nat1onal htt;hway murkrt, unless for stockjobuing? Sha,:'es to sell- shall be opened by the United States from ~he uny a stock to hawk on the Exchange-'' a circulati?JO' of San Francisco to St. Louis, it may be sutd to be medium'' of road stock, founded on our nation~ finishc::d to the Atlantic Ocean. FOI' routes enough d~n:t,litJ, !:-; wha~ they want; and hence the perti- ftl'e opened' (})'in t.he pr.ocess of being or~ned' to nactty Wtth. whJCh they pursue us. make not only a dtrect lu1e across the con.unent to Mr .. Pr~st_tlen.t, I go for a national highway from the Atlantic Ocean, b~t brn~ches to the nght and the Mtsstsstppt to the Pacific and I O"O ao-ainst all left in every direction Jn wluch roads shall_ be re­s~ hemes of individu'als or of dompani~~' ~1d espe- quired. Here is a grent road, then, crossmg the elally those who come here and ask of the Con- entire c0ntinent from ocean to ocean, nenrly half gre~s of .the United States to give themselves, and of it already done, and only a gap to be :filled up. tlrctr u.ss1gns, the means of making a rond and tax- It may be assumed that half way across the con-