The Texas Almanac for 1869 and Emigrant's Guide to Texas. Page: 65
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PACIFIC RAILWAYS AND ROUTES. 65
superior in every respect to that by the valley of the Platte. Generals Han-
cock and Sherman, and other leading army officers, are warm advocates of
the South-western route, and declare that every forty mile of the road beyond
the boundary of Kansas will enable the government to dispense with a regi-
ment of soldiers, at a saving, in that distant region, of more than a million
dollars a year. The West is deeply interested in the success of this road, and
is determined that it shall have the necessary government aid. -
Three of the projected branches of this road will reach tide-water-one
at Guaymas, on the Gulf of California; one at San Diego, on the main
coast of the -Pacific; and one at Galveston, on the Gulf of Mexico. The
branch to the latter place is regarded as second in importance to no road
in the whole country. It is called the Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Gal-
veston Railroad; and has already been completed, and is now running to
Ottawa, 30 miles south of Lawrence.. Colonel William Sturges, of Chi.
cago, a man of large capital, and distinguished for enterprise, is the presi-
dent of the company. The road receives liberal aid from the State of
Kansas, from the counties of that State through which it passes, and has
lately, through a treaty with the Indians, gained possession of 8,000,000 acres
of land, well known as the most valuable anywhere to be found in the West.
This treaty has not been ratified by the United States Senate, but there is
little doubt that it will be. The distance from Lawrence to Galveston is 600
miles, and the route, says Mr. Copley, "is through a country of unsurpassed
fertility and beauty from one end to the other." The people of Kansas City,
Missouri, are to have a branch of this road from their town, 'which will proba-
bly unite with the Lawrence road in the valley of the Neosho, near the South-
ern border of the State of Kansas. A good authority says this branch " will
almost certainly be completed at an early day." Another branch is projected
from Junction City, on the Union Pacific Railway, E. D., about 200 miles west
of Kansas City. This branch also is to meet the main line near the Southern
border of" the State, and " will unquestionably be made sooner or later." As
to the main line from Leavenworth, by the way of Lawrence, the expectation
is that it will soon be extended with much greater rapidity than heretofore,
and that it will meet the Houston and Texas Central Railroad by the close
of the year 1870 at farthest. In a late report, the Texas Central Company
say they "are now issuing their land-grant sinking fund 6 per cent bonds,
principal and interest payable in specie, secured by first mortgage on these
lands, to an amount not exceeding $20,000 per mile, for the construction of
the further extension of their road to Red river, where it will connect with
the Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston Railroad, now under construc-
tion."
ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC.
Congress, on the 27th of July, 1866, chartered the Atlantic and Pacific
Railroad Company to construct a line of road from Springfield, Mo., and Fort
Smith, Ark., to the Pacific Ocean, the distance being estimated at 2000 miles,
and granted to it alternate sections of public land for 20 miles on each side
of the line, which is to run upon what is familiarly known as the route of the
82d parallel. The whole land-grant to this road is estimated at 17,000,000
acres. Its two eastern branches are to converge at some point in the valley
of the Canadian river, and thence to continue by one line to the Pacific.
The route is said to be very favorable, as upon the 32d parallel the Rocky
Mountains subside into an immense plain Elevated about 4000 feet above the
sea. The climate on the route is mild through the entire year, and travel
would never-be obstructed by snows. It is also certain that the region thus
to be opened up is remarkable for agricultural and mineral resources. We
have sometimes thought that this Springfield road might seek a connection
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The Texas Almanac for 1869 and Emigrant's Guide to Texas., book, 1869~; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth123774/m1/57/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.