OCR Text |
Show RESULT OF THE RECONNOISSANCE OF A NEW ROUTE. 261 Having now brought our reconnoissance for a new route from the waters of the Pacific to a point where its results can be at least approximately ascertained, it is very gratifying to be able to state that these results are, in a high degree, satisfactory; more so, indeed, than I had anticipated. It has been ascertained that a practicable route exists through the chain of the Rocky Mountains, at a point sixty miles south of that now generally pursued, and in a course as much more direct as the chord of an arc is than the arc itself. A glance at the map, and a little attention to the table of latitudes, will show that from Great Salt Lake City to the head'of Lodge- pole Creek, a distance of four hundred and eighty- four miles, the difference of latitude is but 85' 42"; and that while the greatest northing made by the proposed line is but little more than 20' north of Lodge- pole Creek, the greatest deviation to the south is but little more than three miles: so that the entire route through that long distance varies but a trifle from a straight line. When extended to the junction of Lodge- pole with the South Fork of the Platte, it will appear to be the chord of an arc formed by the present course of emigration. The distance from Fort Bridger to Fort Laramie, by the present route, is four hundred and eight miles; while, by the new route from Fort Bridger to the eastern base of the Black Hills, ( a point equidistant with Laramie from the forks of the Platte,) it is but three hundred and forty- seven miles: so that a saving is effected, in the total distance, of just sixty- one miles. It must be kept in mind, too, that the distance thus ascertained was measured by an odometer, following all the undulations of the natural surface, in the course of a very rapid reconnoissance, without any minute knowledge of the localities, or any endeavour whatever to make even an approximate location for a road. When these localities come to be minutely examined, and the comparative advantages of different courses ascertained and duly weighed, there can be no doubt that even this large saving in distance may be still further increased, by shortening the route wherever it shall be found practicable. The examination of the country proved it be more favourable than we had at first supposed. For even after so successfully crossing the summit dividing the Pacific from the Atlantic waters, serious fears were still entertained lest some formidable, if not insurmountable obstruction, should be encountered in the character of the ridge of the Black Hills, intervening as it does between the Laramie Plains on the west and the great slope |