CHAPTER IX

THE PACIFIC RAILROAD INVESTIGATION

ETURNING to America, and not receiving instructions as to his station, Humphreys early in August

RR

of that year visited Washington City, and, was immediately pounced upon and put to work in connection. with the project of a Pacific Railroad.

On this duty he worked as hard as he had done on other matters committed to his charge, "harder than he had any intention of doing," as he said later to a friend.

His new duty required him to lay aside all preparation of the material collected in Europe of an interesting and satisfactory character connected with the physics and hydraulics of the Mississippi River.

This new labor was not, however, to interfere with the work on the Mississippi River, which was to continue under his charge; in the field he was represented by other parties who received their orders from the office in Washington City.

Those instructions have never appeared in print; under the different headings they are extremely minute, showing the grasp Humphreys had of that intricate river so contradictory in its nature as to personify an evil spirit working to destroy those fertile fields and the homes of the planters.

Jefferson Davis was then Secretary of War. By his direction, S. O. No. 137, dated August 11, 1854, was issued from the Office of the Adjutant General of the Army, relieving Major W. H. Emory of the Corps from that duty, substituting Humphreys in his stead.

This new work was said to be the beginning of that

friendship which existed between Davis and Humphreys, though there is no confirmation of such in letters examined.

From his well-known friendship for Mr. Davis, he was suspected of sympathizing with the South, but his patriotic devotion to his country, his courage and brilliant talents as a soldier forced proper recognition.

The war with Mexico ended, new territory was added to the United States. The boundary line between Great Britain's possessions on this Continent settled, not, however, on the line of "54° 40′ or fight," our ocean frontier moved northward, and the discovery of gold in California brought before the country the necessity of closer connection with the Pacific slope.

Of

Communication with that slope overland was slow, and somewhat so by Panama. Quicker means of connection was desired, hence the project of the Pacific Railroad. an accurate knowledge of the western country there was none for the purpose of building railroads. It was literally an unknown country.

The report submitted by Humphreys to Congress was obtained by means of manuscripts, incomplete maps and profiles, verbal explanations by the chiefs of the different routes, correspondence with the chief engineers of the important railroads east of the Mississippi River, and leading merchants and business men.

Congress had assembled in short session; the members of both Houses thronged his office all eager for the latest information; such interruptions during the day rendered close application almost impossible, therefore the real work of the office was performed at night under extreme pressure.

The advantages and disadvantages of the different routes, estimates of their relative cost, running expenses, the question of water and fuel, and more generally, the demand and

probable traffic to be accommodated; all these were the cause of numerous pencil memoranda which came at all hours of the day from Humphreys to be investigated.

The preliminary report upon a route for a Pacific Railroad was submitted before Congress adjourned; subsequently, the experience gained confirmed the correctness of the report's conclusions and the wisdom of the recommendations. The date of the report is February 5, 1855; the date of the resolution of Congress, March 31, 1853.

It will be remembered, this work was entered upon August 11, 1854, and in less than six months an enormous amount of material had been collected, examined, digested, and his views upon the most economical and the shortest route to the Pacific Ocean were submitted to Congress, whose resolution contained the words "shortest and most economical."

Five routes were submitted and examined; the routes were as follows: the forty-seventh and forty-ninth parallels of latitude; ditto the forty-first and forty-second; ditto the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth; ditto the thirty-fifth, and lastly the thirty-second.

Five great railroads now cross the Plains to the Pacific Coast, viz., The Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Union Pacific, Sante Fé, and Southern Pacific. In the short space of six months of terrific work each of the five routes were reported upon as to their feasibility.

Field parties were organized, each containing gentlemen interested in the science of botany, geology, topography, railroad engineering, each party under an officer of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Other parties not organized as those mentioned were in the field of the Western Departments making rough surveys. All these reports were sent to the Office of the Pacific Railroad at Washington City.

After careful consideration of the results of the labors of the various parties engaged upon that work, the office at Washington concluded that if there was to be but one railroad, and that only could be constructed for many years, such was regarded as unfortunate from a military point of view, should the road pass through the settlement of the Mormons. These people will continue to exist as a separate community hostile to the United States; and in the event of a war with a great maritime Power, this country would be entirely dependent upon that road for communication with the Pacific States and Territories; the Mormons could and probably would interrupt this line of communication. Their location upon the central route (forty-first parallel), would to Humphreys' view be a serious objection.

At the Thirty-sixth Congress, First Session, House of Representatives, Report No. 426 on the Pacific Railroad, to accompany Bill No. 646, dated April 15, 1860, Mr. Curtis, from the Select Committee on that road, submitted a report which was in favor of the central route (forty-first parallel), and the issue of bonds by the Government of sixty millions of dollars was recommended to aid in its construction.

Some errors crept into that report which were corrected by Humphreys, who sent with it a letter addressed to Hon. H. W. Davis, wherein they are pointed out. Humphreys' reasons for so doing were as follows: "Because we have sometimes discussed the question of the best route for a Pacific railroad, and because the conclusions of the Committee of which you were a member appear to conflict in some respects with the conclusions stated by me officially, some portions of this apparent conflict or some portions of its extent rest upon actual errors, and others upon what I

consider an erroneous mode of treating the subject. I prefer to point out these to Colonel Curtis and yourself."

Soon the rumblings of the Civil War began, halting further investigations of routes for a railroad to the Pacific Ocean. While in charge of the investigations for these routes, a Sub-Bureau was created in the War Department, of which Humphreys became the head, having charge of all the explorations west of the Mississippi River. Many important subjects connected with the advancement of the country were constantly referred by the Secretary of War to him for investigation and report. Humphreys' knowledge and ability were admitted and highly appreciated.

Of the explorations and surveys west of the Mississippi River, Captain Cram's Military and Topographical Memoir, dated March 1, 1858, was submitted for special investigation and report. This memoir is divided under four heads the first relates to the eastern portion of Washington and the northwestern portion of Nebraska territories; the second to routes connecting Oregon and California with Utah; the third to the country extending from Fort Dalles on the Columbia River across the Blue Mountains, then to Fort Boise on the Snake River, then down the headwaters of the Salmon, thence to Fort Boise via Payella River; the fourth to Topographical Memoir and Report, with map of the United States Military Department of the Pacific.

April 24, 1856, Humphreys was appointed a member of the Lighthouse Board by S. O. 43, A. G. O. This duty, an important one, was not to interfere with his other duties under the orders of the Secretary of War, which have been mentioned previously. Those duties did not interfere with his details upon matters connected with the Bureau of Topographical Engineers.