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Show 1 2 6 4 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. Ragtown.~ To be compelled to abandon there the exhausted cattle, with their wagons, was no uncommon occurrence with the emigrants. The road is not traveled now. The water of the Carson is made very muddy by the working of the mills upon its banks in the vicinity of Empire and elsewhere; while the soil of its banks is also exceedingly clayey and alkaline. Below old Fort Churchill fording the river is by no means safe. As far as Gates's ( Camp No. 3) much of the land in the immediate vicinity of the river is taken up and fenced in; a little is cultivated, but it is better adapted for hay- ranches. Hay ami butter, for sale about the miues, are principally produced. The river is about 150 feet wide, the bottom generally soft and miry, the banks steep. The water is from 3 to 4 feet deep. There is a good bridge at Buckland's, ( the first one below Dayton,) a passable ford at low water at Gates's, and another said to be at Davis's ranch, between Buckland's aud Gates's. Except these ranches in the river-bottom, the Carsou here flows through a very desert. A little above Ragtown we passed several deserted houses, in ruins, deserted since the overland stage- route wa » abandoned. At Ragtown the river is quite as muddy as above, aud looks very treacherous, with the shifting sandy bottom. Captain Simpson says of the water of Carson Lake, in June, 1859, " The water is of a rather whitish, milky oast." Soda in quantity is obtained from a couple of small lakes 3 to 4 miles east of Ragtown. The water is simply run into earth vats, allowed to evaporate, and sink into the soil, when the soda remains sufficiently refined for transportation. Mr. Cowlea visited these lakes September 15. I returned the same day from Wadaworth, bringing with the pack- train a lot of barley for our future use. On the 16th we left this place. Mr. Cowles having directions to proceed with the £ ack- train by way of the Ellsworth freight- road, and await my arrival at West Gate, [ r. 8 pi Her and myself took the old overland road, along which follows the Western Union Telegraph line. We camped at Stillwater, on the slough that connects Carson Lake with the Humboldt and Carson Sink. Stillwater has a telegraph office and about half a dozen houses. It is the county- seat of Churchill County, Nevada, but at present being remote from travel, is very isolated and dull. There is good land in the vicinity, and artesian wells could undoubtedly be used to advantage. The distribution and flow of the water of Carson River are very remarkable. Three and a half miles below Ragtown the river separates into two nearly equal streams; the left branch, about 2 miles further on, again divides, this making three streams. The central one is called New River. The country here is a great flat abont 4.000 feet above sea- level; on the south side is the Carson Lake, shallow, bat with generally well- defined shores. It is about 9 miles iu length by 6£ in width. On the north side where the river enters there is swampy ground. This lake is connected with the Carson and Humboldt Siuk by the slough before mentioned, which runs nearly north and south, and is about 22 miles in length. The first branch of the Carson flows into Carson Lake, New River enters the slough* and the third branch turns to the north into the sink. The sink is of much greater extent than the lake. The alternate tongues of water and land, the little islands and pools which form its southern shore, show from a distauce the marshy character of the land, and indicate a shallow body of water, and a surface that would be sensibly affected by changes in the water- level. The Humboldt River enters this sink from the-north. I was told by persons living along the slough that at times the flow of water in it would be toward Carson Lake and the reverse, depending upon the relative height of the water in the two lakes. At the time of our visit there seemed to be a scarcely perceptible set toward the sink. Captain Simpson, when camped upon this slough, in June, 1859, says: " Carson Lake voids itself rapidly through it to its sink to the-north." The freight- road followed by Mr. Cowles crosses the Humboldt branch of the Carson at Saint Clair's Bridge, and follows on the east of and near the Carson branch. The slough is also crossed by a bridge at Hill and Grimes, 2i miles from Carson Lake. The travel along this road to Belleville, & c, has made a market for farm- products. There is a number of ranches and one school- house. We also find ranches on the Humboldt branch. The Stillwater road crosses this by a bridge about three miles from Saint Clair's. The land in this flat, away from the water, is very sandy and almost desertT Both onr parties left this valley on the east, and crossed the Saud Spring Range into Fairview Valley, near the east side of which our routes came together at West Gate. Mr. Cowles crossed the range at the Sand Spring Pass, halting there one day to occupy a mountain station. At Sand Spring water costs 25 cents per head for the animals per night, and wood could scarcely be purchased. From Stillwater, by the old road, I entered the foot- hills about 18 miles to the north of Sand Spring. We left the road at the summit, and spent several days in the mountains about La Plata and Tarogqua Peak to the north. The range here is called the Silver Hill Range. Tarogqua Peak rises very abruptly from the plain just east of the southern end o£ |