F594 .W55 Copy 2 «^'% ^^^ o - • • * \^ *=o 0^ ^oV "°* •• !> ' • " ^ ■< .\^' .V ^•^i^'C-'V V'-'-^'V" ^■-•"••y .^^ 0-7- ^ ^ y s ,0^ o".' ■■,-> S'- ' * ^ ^^ */■ r-^- °.,¥/^1 .0 0^ % m^^: .-^^ ,v .<2- ^^ ^-i^, .^^ o ,7. ^ o *>t j.^ '> ^. A %'. %^ ,-•>i?^^^o*'' .:^ ,0 ■i-. .^1°. > . o " a ^ ^ ov^: \ ^^-^ .-^q ^^-"^, ^ ^'MSs^^ y "o '.^^^V . ^ %^ ^!c^, <.<^ vp :>^c ^ .«' , 5 • , , "^ ■j' : '^o V* ■V '^c\^ ADDRESS OF LIEUT. (lEO. M. WHEELER, U. S. CORPS OF ENGINEERS, DECEMBER 23, /8M, BKFOKE THH: AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. /r? '"^'Sl9ot ADDRESS OF LIEUT. GEO. M. WHEELER, IT, 8. Corps of Engineers, DECEMBER 23, 1874, BEFORE THE AMEEIOAI^ GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. Mr. Pkesident, Fellows of the Geographical Society, Ladies AND Gentlemen : It afiords me great pleasure to appear before you, in response to a call from your Committee, for the purpose of narrating fea- tures connected with the expedition that has been entrusted to my charge, during the few past years, and I hope to be able to speak succinctly of a few of the great number of important questions entering into the subject of geographical inquiry, now being carried on in the immense territory of the United States west of the Mississippi River. I have no need to tell a critical assemblage like this that for the first time I am placed upon the stage to attempt to instructively entertain an appreciative audience. I cannot expect, and hope thai: you do not, that I shall meet the requirements ot tlie trained and eloquent speaker ; but if you will bear patiently with me, I shall attempt to portray, in addition to some scenes and incidents, and professional results of one of our field seasons, a brief resume of what has been done in this comprehensive field heretofore, and in addition thereto, treat of a few of the promi- nent and pertinent points of the relations that interior surveys bear towards the Government. CONDENSED HISTORICAL RESUME OF EARLY EXPLORATION, As is well known by most of those present, shortly after the commencement of the present century, and but a little subsequent to the establishment of our independence, the United States hav- ing acquired what was knoAvn as the "Louisiana purchase," President Jeiferson, then Chief Magistrate, was the first to con- ceive of the necessity of sending to this j:»ortion of the continent, organized parties to examine into the pui'chase, and to find out Mhat the Government had secured. At this tune the expedition headed by Lewis and Clarke was organized :. the former a nephew of, and military Secretary to, the President ; the latter, an officer in the army. The inception of this work has not merely signalized the wonderful intuitive power that has been accredited to Jeffer- son, but shows at this early day the value attached to systematic Governmental support. With all the facilities at this time available, this, one of the most prominent expeditions of the first quarter of the 19th cen- tury, staited out to pierce the northwestern interior. This was the first well authenticated and well equipped expedition that had for its mission an inquiry into the extent and resources, then comparatively unknown, of this great and almost continental area. It is true that at an earlier period, in our southwestern territory, the trips of the early Jesuit missionaries following the expedition for the conquest under Cortes, and later parties, sent out under the sanction of the government of New Spain, both inland and coast-wise, had their origin and results much in advance of the historical epochs of the colonial, state and territorial indepen- dencies of the government of the United States, But their results were comparatively of little avail in bringing to light facts and deductions susceptible of being drawn from these great areas. Dwelling with so much significance upon this individual eftbrt in the threading of interior spaces has not been done with a view to pass encoiuium upon one more than any other expedition, upon one more than any other individual, but to draw your attention to an epoch in history which it has been my pleasure to see so ■distinctively noted within the last i'ew years. Later, Lieut, Pike, afterward General Pike, killed in the war of 1812-14, headed an expedition extending over a period of three years, first in and about the head waters of the Mississippi, and afterward to our south-western boundary, then limited by the Arkansas, and, from a misapprehension of geographical boundaries, having passed beyond the limit of what was then the possessions of this country, found himself and party upon the western borders of the Rio Grande. Stockading himself against the Indians, he found but too soon that another people were more his enemies, and here he was taken prisoner by the Mexican authorities in 1807. It has been our good fortune during the past season to ascertain the fact, that at the junction of the San Antonio and Conejos creeks in the southwestern part of Colorado, remains the remnants of a stockade, marking the spot where this occurred. Other evidence was accumulated, showing that his parties crossed the Sangre de Cristo Pass, AH the results of that important expe- dition never reached the archives of the Government, and to-day they lie hi the i'ecords of old Mexico, or wltti the priests of tlie inland Territory. After the war of I812-'l45 the country havina: reached a sta^e of coin2:)arative quiet, explorations again resumed a magnitude not known before. In the years ISIO-'SO, after the organization of the Corps of Topographical Engineeis, whose labors in this field are well known, Major Long started in 1819 from the AUe- ghanies. The results of this expedition, in view of the improved instruments and methods, and the fjiciUties that could be placed at his command, were much in advance of what had been ac- complished before, and the majjs of routes then made were of great importance to the Government and frequently consulted. But little was done after this expedition until the time of Bonneville in 1832-'3-'4 '5 and '6, who, following out the endeavor to explore lines leading into the then inaccessible portions of the interior, was absent so long from his command as to be dropped from tlie rolls of the army. However, his journal, notes, plats, tfec, when received and compiled, added largely to the stock of geographical knowledge relating to this portion of the public domain. Again an interval, and we find in 1842 that the then Lieut. P'remont of the Corps of Topographical EngincLi-s, liavinp^ been assigned by President Tyler to command one of the most im- portant expeditions into the interior of the country west of the Missouri River, started from St. Louis, another instance where a President of the United States was impressed with the grave importance of a correct knowledge of our immense western pos- sessions, that embrace some of the most important areas of drainage in the world. The parties of this expedition were en- gaged in field and office operations until the close of the season of 1845. The importance attached to the results obtained and their effect when utiUzed, upon the line of march of emigration toward the west has become a matter of history more fixed in the minds of those, who have traversed the regions beyond the Alleghanies. Li speaking of the West it is well to draw attention to the fact that the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers marked the geographical limit of the Great West at this period, a line of easy transit, strangely enough, acting as a barrier to civilization, still beyond it little authentic was known. How well has been proven since that time that one of the powers that rule the world (hard money) has attracted mtiltitudes to the shores and slopes of the Pacific. After the discovery of gold in California there was established a steam- ship line between New York and San Francisco ; subsequently a telegraph line, and later still the Pacific Railroad became an acknowledged fact — each forced to completion from the necessi- ties of the Government and the demands of inter-commerce. llowever since tlie early days of Exploration and Sun^ey tlie boundaries of our western domain liave passed throuo;h successive changes. For a correct understanding of these changes I Avould refer you to one of the maps of the Statistical Atlas of the United States, recently compiled under the direction of Prof F. A. Walker, of the Census Bureau, that relates to the acquisition of territory in the United States, and its subsequent distribution into Political Divisions. This expedition (Fremont's) was followed by others all of more or less importance, and especially so since by them was proven the necessity for the organization of parties to obtain information for the Government in this vast inland interior. To carry out such a policy, from the year 1846-7 until 1852, expeditions tor the Pacific Railroad surveys, and others, were sent out mostly under the auspices of the War Department. JMany of the names of the heads of these expeditions are familiar to you all. The former were sent out at the instance of the Secretary of War, to investigate routes of travel to the Pacific, a subject ex- citing public attention at that time. Wiih matured plans, methods of observation and investigation, with a personnel selected by the Departments and Bureaus, several well organized expeditions took the field, and every one knows more or less of the results of the Pacific 1\. R. surveys. Stores of useful knowledge accumu- late so rapidly in this country, and still there remains so much to be learned, that it almost seems amiss to ask one to look back- ward; indeed, it may appear that I of all others, now directing a work that has its future nearly all before it, can hardly be pardoned for asking a few moments of retrospection. Perhaps it may l)e unfortunate that we should stop for a moment to look backward, but in the operations of Geographical inquiry and endeavor, like all others, we should look upon both sides of the (juestion, and one of the lessons that may be draAvn, is, that it has been principally " measures and not men" that have governed tiie intervals during which expeditions have been dispatched into tlie unsettled and inaccessible })ortions of the far west. It seems proper to add, that the results of the Pacific R. R. surveys led to the construction and compilation of what were then the most accurate mai)S. Warren's Memoir, which foi-ms a part of the P. R. R. reports, fully sets forth an historical resume of this matter, and has been frequently consulted, and is the authority up to the spring of 1857. Although the topographical material had not been gathered for the precise ])urpose of making maps, yet I know that every one ])resent will admit its ])ertinence when I s:iy that the (4overnment and the public may well feel thankful to the wisdom of the minds that conceived the propriety of placing all this mate- rial in the form of a map whose uses have since entered into the education of the country. Subsequent to the close of the Pacific R. R. surveys and the resulting maps and reports thereon, ofiicers of the then Corps of Topographical Engineers ])rosecuted further surveys in this rogion, called for by the necessities for intorma- tion experienced l)y the War Dej^artnient bearing upon communi- cation and supply between interior remote points; tlieii number was comparatively tew, owino^ to the commencement ol what has since grown into a system of river and harbor improve- ments whereon officers of this corps were preferably placed. While many important expeditions were in progress, boundary surveys between thi United States and Great Britain on the one side and Mexico on the other, wei'e carried on. The names of Graham, Emory, and Parke are familiar in this connection. Notable among the later expeditions are the expedition of Warren to the Black Hills in the Northwest in 1855, '6-7 ; Macomb in 1859, outward from Santa Fe to the junction of the Grand and Green Rivers, and return; Simpson, with the army under Johnson, in Utah, to the eastern base of the Sierras, at Carson City, thereby shortening the principal wagon route to tlie Pacific, and perhaps others which in the hasty mention may have escaped attention. Their names and facts have been placed upon the record, and have ali'eady passed into history. I may be excused for calling attention to a portion of the ]*resi- dent's message sent forward to Congress during the past session relative to surveys, wherein the Chief of Engineers states in re- ferring to the resumption of labors upon interior topographical surveys by Maj. Long, the following appears : " And succeeding him, these were continued ))y officei-s of the Army whose names would furnisli along list of men distinguished in their profession." I recollect most vividly a statement made not long since by a prominent Senator from the West, while speaking of no less a personage than the late Senator Fessenden from Maine, that this distinguished statesman, although conversant with legisla- tion in its broadest sense, thoroughly informed as to govern- mental necessities, well versed in the manners, customs and wants of the people, still never seemed to comprehend that the United States had expanded beyond the Alleghanies, while at and beyond the extremities of arteries leading to the heart of this portion of the continent more than elsewhere the Govern- ment should extend its powerful protection. Subsequent to the war there have, also, been organized and carried out i;nder the Engineer Dejiartment of the army, the Geological Survey of the 40th Parallel, in cliarge of Clarence King, from the Department of the Interior, the United States Geological Survey of the Territori<'S under Prof Hayden ; the survev of the Valley of the Colorado under the Smithsonian In- stitution, in charge of Mr. Powell, — the latter was transferred at the past session of Congress to the Interior Department — also the expedition for the deraarkation of the northern boundary nnder the State Department, with Archibald Caiii])bell as Commissioner and Maj. Twining, Corps of Engineers, as chief astronomer; and at the headquarters of the several Geogrnpliical military divisions and departments officers of the Corps of Engineers have been en- gaged in reconnaissances and surveys of various kinds, but of their several characters and objects, I feel that it is not my mis- sion to speak. Their works are passing into history, and your distinguished President, Chief-Justice Daly, in his annual address, chronicles their current operations. DESORIPTIOX OF KXPEDITION OF 18/4. The system of opening a means of communication between points widely separated in the interior had become well advanced at the beginning of the rebellion, and it was found both judicious and economical to make expenditures of the public money for in- terior surveys, and certain imp)ovements and constructions grow- ing out of the same for the uses of the War Department, and in furtherance of industrial interests. And as has before been stated, officers of the corps of Topographical Engineers w^ere called upon to take a prominent part in this task. This corps during the interval of the war were merged with the corps of Engi- neers proper, and their duties assimilated thereunto. "What might have grown from this want on the part of the Government had not the war of the rebellion been prosecuted, let none of us imagine. Inasmuch as it has been a part of my task to look a lit- tle into what has been done as well as to project current and future operations, I may be pardoned for thinking to maintain that what lias l)een partially begun, and in a small degree carried out by myself and others of late years, might easily have become a thing of the ))ast, but for the intervention of the war. However, finding myself in the year 1869 a member of the staff of Brevet Major General E. O. C. Ord, then commanding the Department of California, and under his direction being sent to investigate certain practical subjects relating to interior commu- nication, for the first time in my experience as a public officer, it became my duty as it was my pleasure to examine topographi- cally portions ol the areas shown upon the progress map thrown upon the screen. After retui'ning from that trip, which was car- ried on at a small expense, and which attained nothing beyond the dignity of a reconnaissance, tliere grew into tangible foiTn evidence favorable to a continuance of Explorations and Surveys which it was then deemed proj^er to lay before the War Depart- ment. The trip of that year had its close, and its results were immediately maport has been since maintained, for a lack of which and tlie intelli- gent aid of a few far-seeing friends in Congress the expedition of 1874 would not have been sent out for the further prosecution of these labors. The expeditions of 1871, as well as those of 1872-'3, took the field and returned, harmonizing their field and office results as far as could be, so that the mass of useful infor- mation might become immediately available to the War De- partment, thence to the othei- departments of the Government, and indirectly to the public. And it is with no little pride that I quote the following paragraph from the anmial report of the Chief of Engineers, submitted to the Secretary of War, and for- warded to Congress at its present session : " By experience and improvements in methods and instruments, the value of the results is annually enhanced and the co^t of the work amply repaid." But these matters interest but very few of you, and there- fore I shall at once come to a description of our trip during the past season, whicli has been directed to portions of the poli- tical divisions of Utah, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. The number of parties in the field have been 9, the number of officers and assistants 86, fewer than the usual number since our routes lay in regions not infested by hostile Indians, and hence no escorts were required. These have been distribu- ted into the several geographical fields of inquiry, including the cognate branches of scientific research, geology, paleontology, mineralogy, natural history, tfec. The force consisted of officers of the diflierent arms of the service, aided too by professional gentlemen drawn from civil life, since this, like all classes of interior works carried on by the War Department, have been partly military, partly civil, working always in harmony, as it has not been deemed essential to confine labors in so compre- hensive a field to one class of persons. The point of departure was Pueblo, Colorado, at the end of the little narrow gauge railroad that follows the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, south I'rom Denver, and to which point 8 ]>ersons, aniinuls and supplies could be easily forwarded. The detailed operations of the Survey, however, were to be to the southward of the Spanish Peaks, marked points noted by all early explorers, travellers and settlers throughout the region and lying for the greater part in New Mexico, while the basins of drainage entei'ed and occupied, were the Arkansas, Cimarron, Mora, Pecos, Rio Grande (its eastern, upper and western branches,) and the San Juan Rivers, all possessing a topographical grandeur each its own, yet each ditferent in its local physical peculiarities, each as large as one of our minimum States, with all due respect to Rhode Island and Delaware; the entire area being fully 35,000 square miles, so large that we might almost (to speak figura- tively) pick u)i the whole State of New York, drop it into the same, with a prospect of total immersion. The points of prime Geographical necessity were those from which a series of base lines were measured from points, astronomically determined AVith the utmost accuracy, and located in vicinity of Hughes, Colorado Springs, Labran and Trinidad, Colorado ; Cimarron, Fort Union, Las Vegas, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, at which points bases measured and developed to check the main triangulation extend- ing throughout the mountain ranges were laid out. Three par- ties were engaged in the establishment of interior astronomical points and the prosecution of the main triangulation, and others in filling in from main topographical stations by other trigonomet- rical means and collecting the topographical details necessary for the obtainance of all the horizontal and vertical lines requisite for the map. It may be well here to explain that in this survey for mapping considerations alone, the engineer is compelled to apply three of the most prominent of the scientific branches in order to obtain satisfactory results; i.e., Astronomy, Geodesy and Topo- graphy, which go hand in hand, immediately allied with the hyp- sometrical determination of altitudes. This has been done with a degree of success not marked in the earlier stages of the work, but most gratifying to all who maintain an interest in it. Per- sons specially skilled in the forms of the present and extinct fauna and flora of this region have been aftbrded facilities to prose- cute their studies in connection with the movement of the field parties witli marked success. As, however, tliis work, founded upon the necessities of a l)e[)artment of the Government alone, can entertain but one standard, practically that of paying its way as it goes, the latter may not liave been brought to so full a stand- ard of excellence, as in parties which tlie Government has at times sent out to prosecute especially this class of examinations, yet in the humble way in which tliese matters have been brought to fruitful results it is believed tliat for the lunited time and means much has been added to the store of knowledge in these impor- tant branches of science, and to the individuals who have been responsible for, and who have acccmplished this work, most of the thanks are due, I will ask you to follow me while I describe rapidly the march of that part of one of the nine parties conducted by myself out from Pueblo to Paoosa Sprinos, in the valley of San Juan, and thence returning to the valley of the Arkansas. As no statement of mine will accommodate yourminds to the peculiar atmosphere and structure of mountain and other forms that meet the traveller in these regions, I will conhne myself to the simple line upon the map and ask you to trace with me the locus and windings of this route. The road from Pueblo to Fort Garland, on the eastern side of the Greenhorn Range, that faces outward toward the Arkansas valley, skirts the foot-hills of this magnificent series of ridges, that has lately attained a more ])ractical grandeur on account of im- portant mining interests that are being developed, notably in the Rosita silver district. New discoveries are also being made, and when one can look at a mountain range and imafrine that silver may come from that enormous structure, silver already found, or silver yet to be found, there grows an idea of enchant- ment that makes the traveller, the practical man or the mining operator stoop with awe upon beholding so colossal a treasure house in which is seen the basis of future economic wealth now lying hidden, and awaiting only the call of energetic labor to withdraw it for the uses of mankind. We started from Pueblo and traversed the base of this range during the month of August in the most delightful part of the season, and crossed the Sangre de Cristo Pass, (a fearful name, but the pass fully justifies it), until we entered the valley of the Rio Grande and the famous San Luis Park, so called, an immense detrital plain simply, park, it is not, valley it might be called from its physical shape. Reaching the little post of Fort Garland lying upon a strip of land between Sangre de Cristo and Ute creeks, we came to the border line, of Government civilization at least, for here we find the same located in a few adobe houses in which government property is stored, half in corral and half in dingy flat top huts, with apertures resembling loop-holes, although fashioned by nature. Here were stationed a fraction of the army so well sustained upon our frontier for the protection of civilization ad- vancing in face of many obstacles. Here we rested for a few days in camp on a little island beautifully ensconsed among the trees. An island because it was like an oasis, situated on a dusty plateau surrounded by a little stream of about two feet of water all from the Ute creek, or what is left of that stream after emerging from the foot hills. From this point dii'ectly across the wide valley of the Rio Grande we reached a number ot Mexican settlements on the western side 10 of the most southerly county of Colorado ; thence farther west- ward to the little settlement of Conejos. Without guides and without escorts, we passed from this point up the stream of the same name, changing soon our route to the northward and climbing a noticeable peak that from the valley below stood out boldly in the horizon, the view from which can only be compared to that of entering a paradise. One of the earliest points visited by us was named Pros- pect Peak, from which, looking eastward and north, is seen the great San Luis plain, and to tlie west the little valleys of the Conejos and its minor tributaries clothed with grass, presenting m^ost beautiful oscillations of color to the eye,while farther in the horizon lay long mesa lines heavily clothed with pines and decidii- ous foliage, all lending a calm repose to the landscape seldom witnessed. Within these tributaries we spent a portion of the season ; finally, after threading in and out. reach the sources of the eastern streams, and one stands upon the backbone of the continent, at a mountain summit rising majestically from the half plateau, half mesa forms, standing a proud and conspicuous monument, (d\;pli- cated nowhere, so far as I know), marking the powerful line of serrated ridges, which from the 49th to the 32d parallel divide the waters of the Pacific from those of the Atlantic. Here we encountered storms, with thunder and lightning, which after their exhibition of temper left a clear and radiant sky, lighting with magnificence the well developed flora of this region. Continuing vrestv>'ard, we followed with considerable difficulty a stream, which afterwards proved to be what will be named the eastern branch of the San Juan, to its junction with the main or upper fork, thence to the famous hot spiings at Pagosa. These were examined by parties under Col. Macomb, in 1858, who visited them while exploring for a wagon road, and have been described by Professor Newberry, geologist to that expedition, in a report that it is believed has never been published. This was a point for..rest and lendezvous, and the most westerly reached b^v myself. In a trip to Sierra Amarilla, in the valley of the Chama, the backbone of the country was again crossed, but, how dift'erent the grtmdenr of this latter crossing. Here the erosion of the horizontal strata leaves a poorly marked line from which waters flow cilher to the Atlantic or Pacific. Indeed, it is most difficult to determine the precise points of this line from which precipitated moisture would flow to the hither or yon side. Ketuniing from Pagosa, with a specially organized i)arty, the main head of the San Juan was i-eached, thence through flood, nmd, snow and forest we reached the westerly arm ot the Kio Grande, which nestles its perennial head within the 11 Southern line of the Uiicompaglire Mountains, grazing most marvellously the heads of the San Juan, about which occur a series of complicated folds for a distance of 80 miles. Thence flowing to the south, it comes to an area covered with quaternary- deposits in this portion of the Rio Grande basin. One little experience gathered wliile making this trip, although not altogether agreeable, may perhaps amuse if not interest you all: While camping near the summit of one of the many ridges skirt- ing the tributaries of the upper San Juan, at an altitude of 10,250 feet, a heavy rain began just at dusk, and minus an epicurean's supper, with a wet bed, without forage for the mules, with numb fingers and dread of tlie night we were made the recipients suddenly of a succession of grand physical phenomena, which it has not been my fortune to witness before. Just at the small hours of the morning, while looking iip through the mantling cover of fir and aspen, could be seen glimpses of wavy clouds and the moon clearly shining, while the peculiar sliudderiug effect that comes from cold water drpping down one's back was experienced by your observer, although carefully ensconced in his blankets, and while simultaneously in another quadrant of the heavens a snowstorm of considerable vigor was actively going on. Indeed we had snow about four inches deep, or rather in the morning we had this. During this interval the grumbling fol- lowed by vivid and clear flashes of lightning afl:brded yet another species of )»yrotechnics on the part of the heavens, all creating an awe of the power of nature more impressive than all powers of description. One by one was heard the crack of trees, broken and demolished by the violence of the wind, driven at a fearful rate. You can well imagine how much this was enjoyed, how much we all slept ; but, fortunately for the alacrity which we desired in our homeward march, we found ourselves early on the road next morning. It is a matter worthy of scientific note, this peculiar relation between clouds, moonshine, clear sky and thunder, hail, snow, etc., which I believe has hardly ever been observed before. Marching steadily on in this portion of our sea- son's trip, we reach a point near the south fork of the Rio Grande, thence to its junction with the main stream, and to the little mining town of Del Norte, on the western side again of this great San Luis valley. Here another division of one of the small fractional part of the expedition took place — a portion with- drawing by stage communication leading to the Arkansas Valley. In the latter direction your observer travelled hence to Pueblo. The season's trip was short, but one full of varied incidents and of extended observation in the mountain portion of one out of the twelve extended trips taken by myself in the mountains of the west since the suuxmer of 1868. While a fragment 12 of the main party were returning under my direction, the remainder, under Lieut. Whipple of the Army, prosecuted their inquiries Avestward toward the mouth of the San Juan, another, under Lieut. Marshall, were in the upper and northerly parts of the San Juan basin, amonc; the mines lately discovered there, and succeeded in completino; the triangulation begun in 1 873, stretch- ing well-conditioned belts of triangles southward, thus connect- ing with the series established in New Mexico in 1873. This party have accomplished their season's work as have also the others, and returned to the ottice in Washington for the elabora- tion of results. Lieut, Birnie directed a party immediately south of the main division, debouching from the mountains eastward at Ciman-on, New Mexico, at the close of the season, having reached the western boundary of New Mexico, covering the area south to Abiqui in the valley of the Chama, and westward to include the main southern tributaries of the San Juan. Lieut. Price, with a special triangulation party, to which were added a mineralogist and collector, occupied portions still farther to the south, their southward latitudinal line being that through Las Vegas, New Mexico, and their eastern limit the ridge of the main range bordering upon the plains and dividing the valley of the Pecos from the Rio Grande. Lieut. Blunt and party were assigned to a portion east of the main ridge, and bounded, latitudinally. north and south, by Las Vegas and Trinidad, Col., east by 104° 7' 30" of bngitude. A special party for making collections in Natural History and certain hypsometrical determinations, followed aline leading from Santa Fe, via Fort Wingate, Camp Apache, New Camp Grant, Fort Bowie in Arizona, and returned via the same post except Winsjate, and including Forts Tulerosa and Craig, to Santa Fe. Their labors were crowned with most gratifying results at a minimum expense, and till in gaps in the Natural History areas, left vacant in other years, extending observations upon geogra- phical distribution, with new forms. Yet another party for special Natural History and Paleontolo- gical study, under Dr. Yarrow for the early part, and Prof. E. D, Cope for the latter part of the season, pursued their investi- gations in the valley of the Rio Grande, north of Santa Fi' and in portions of the southern San Juan basins, with most gratifying re- sults. Prof. Cope has already submitted descriptions of new vertebrate forms that have been published. A sul)stantial stone and brick observatory was established at Ogden in 1873 and was occupied as a connecting station; to it were sent signals from the main stations occupied by another party in New Mexico, Colorado and Nebraska. In this connec- tion I beg leave to state that the Western Union and Atlantic and 1^ t'acific Telegrapli Companies have as usual extended most literal aid to the longitudinal campaigns, without which efficient assis- tance the same degree of success could not have been obtained. It may not be amiss to note that in addition to the collection of toi^ograpliical data, knowledge regarding the resources of the areas traversed and surveyed is one of the objects of investiga- tion. As another and higher branch of the work, may be men- tioned the establishment astronomically of geograi)hical points at selected positions within the entire area, west of the 100th meridian. Many of these have been made available to the wants of the Survey in carrying out its mapping objects. At others , conspicuous and solid monuments of stone, with the meridian line passing through them, have been erected, establishing a line ac- curately marked available for the uses of Governmental, corpo- rate and private surveys, of practical advantage for all time to come, and the better understood the more known. Indeed I liave been informed, by the Surveyor Generals of Nevada and of Wyoming Territories, that they had been made use of in the determination of the annual change in variation of the magnetic needle, a matter ot great importance in fixing the loca- tion of the property of all settlers, thus acting as a safeguard against questions that may be raised in the future, as to the boundaries ot landed properties, for in the newer portions of the great west, unlike New England, there are few artificial boundaries marking the extent of estates agricultural or mineral, and the variation of the needle entering as an element into all land titles is subject to an unknow^n annual fluctuation. While to-day in portions of our western interior land may not be worth the goverimient minimum price, it may in the future be worth maximum sums. It is well then that these meridian lines are established at this early day, and future generations will be thank- ful for what has already been done were the good work to be at once suspended. While I can add but little of interest gathered by myself and individual members of the parties throughout the season, I will tell you that with but one casualty to be noticed, all have termi- nated their duties and reached the point of disbanding at Pueblo, and are now on their way, or have reached the office of the survey at Washington. To attempt at this time to lay before you any detailed features of the several branches of the work, as to their scientific or other values, would be exceedingly premature ; I will leave that for another time. I hope that you will only expect of me statements made in the most general terms, for I have not deemed it advisable to come before you on this occasion with a finished scientific paper, nor with the dry material such as often forms a part of many of the messages and documents to Con- gress, but hope that 1 will have proven to you that we are add- 1i ing oilr rriite in the lino of geograpliical inquiry, and I beg to state that the time I can lake li'oin my strictly professional duties is extremely small. The region of country entered by the parties this year, presents physical pecxiliarities of marked characteristics; consisting of massive mountain forms, plateaux and rivers, and althougli it cannot be said of a large portion of the area, that the agriculturist has great attractions extended to him, yet with theadvancement of legitimate mining enterprises, there will grow up a demand for farming products, that will not be dependent on cheap transportation, and will enrich not as do the prairies, where sometimes corn has to be burned in the field, but with pro- ceeds from a ready and elastic market for all the productions of the soil. There are vast fields suitable for grazing purposes ready with their perennial and perpetual supply of nutritive grasses sufficient for numerous herds of cattle and sheep lying ready to provide beef for the nation. Beef for the nation when the U. S, numbers her one hundred millions, as well as we have to-day beef for the nation with its forty millions. This great supply, the capacity of which has been largely called into question during the past few years, attracts a growing atten- tion, and to the question where is to come beef for the millions of Americans yet unborn, I would answer, after a personal obser- vation of portions of 250,000 square miles of the western interior, " Go west" to the inland valleys, detrital plains and extensive plateaux, and there you will find provided through the handi- Avork of Nature m;iterial for the preparation of beef for these future millions, inexhaustible for several generations at least. I wish to call your attention to the condition of some of the prospectors, in S. W. Colorado, as noticed during the past season. In the different trips in the western mountain region, especially east of the Sierras, from Nevada to Arizona, that have been conducted by our parties we have met a large num- ber of these hardypioneers hunting for "gold and silver." Those who have wended their way into the remote sections of Colorado, unlike most of the prospectors, however, of the Nevada and Arizoiui regions, who disdain to labor except when they are out of " grub," and then are able to replenish the necessities of stomach and pocket in some flourishing mining district, we found many departing from the San Juan mining country, who had been flush in the early ])art of the chase, but now instead of one man to four donkeys (a magnificent outfit), four or five men were often seen behind one donkey, the latter carrying all the worldly gooils that these men possessed. Cases were presented where charity had occupation, and it was with extreme pleasure that on one we divided four-Hfths of what little food we had among a party of men, in order that they might no longer go hungry. it -is to be remarked, however, that the total four-fifths of our 15 store was not enough for one meal ; still we thought to have added to our record in the cause of suffering humanity. I would like to call the attention of the Society to the distribu- tion of forest areas as discovered and entered by parties of the survey. It will be recollected that upon the maps made at tlie -close of the Ives' expedition of 1857-'« there was jilaced the name of Black or San Francisco forest. Its extent in either direction was not laid down. However, our surveys go to show that this great forest is probably the largest south of the 40th parallel. It