Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: Vol. 2, Pt. 2

GRADES ON THE SACRAMENTO. CANOE CREEK VALLEY.
a point, which can only be determined by a minute survey, whether it will be easier to pass
around it to the south, over the lava fields a;{ the foot of the ridge or butte which rises on that
side of the cainon, and return to the river at the mouth of Canoe creek, than to descend by the
canion itself.
Table of approximate average grades in descending the Sacramento
river, from the mouth of Fall river to the head of steamboat naviga tion at Fort Reading, Calfornia.
Stations. Intermediate Total dis- Average de- Altitude Remarks.
distances. tances. scent permile above the sea
in feet. in feet.
Mbuth of Fall river............................ 3,249 Head of see
Foot of second canion. 8.95 8.95 35.00 ond canion
Mouth of Canoe creek. 4.70 13.65 14.00
Sacramento river..... 22.50 36.15 30.70
Sacramento rapids. 7 50 43.65 59.60 1,730
Sacramento river...... 26.50 70.15 21.70 1,156
4.70 74.85 16.60 1,078
10.50 85.30 11.80 954
McCloud's Fork...... 5.25 90.55 6. l10 922
Sacramento river...-. 11.75 102.30 7.20 837
Fort Reading.....-. 22.90 125.20 7.10 674
Having completed, by this connection, my exploration of the line of the Madelin Pass entirely
through to the head of steamboat navigation on the Sacramento, we turned our course towards
the south to explore the country drained by Canoe creek, and, if possible, discover a routeconnecting the Sacramento, at the mouth of that creek, with Noble's Pass at Black Butte creek,
where the emigrant road first strikes it in crossing the mountains from the east, by which,
if no better route could be found, the steep descent from that pass to the west would be avoided.
The ascent of this creek for the first mile led us over thorny bushes and rocky bluffs; and in
their passage we were greatly aided by a heavy Indian trail, always serviceable when available
and here doubly acceptable, for our animals were both jaded and sore-footed from constantly
travelling on the sharp angular fragments of rocks. For the first mile, also, the stream was
full of foaming rapids at short intervals; but above that point we came to an open grassy prairie
of small extent, through which the stream flows gently, and in its passage receives two or three
respectable tributaries, one of which, from the southwest, falls with considerable noise into the
main stream. We encamped under a wide branching pine in the centre of this prairie.
July 22.-Just above our morning camp we ascended a terrace wall, fifty or sixty feet high,
to a nearly level plain, upon which we followed an Indian trail for two miles. This plain was
covered in various parts with grassy ponds, but it was obstructed to the southeast and east by
large fields and hills of volcanic rocks, with dark ledges and masses here and there, and it was
apparently impassable. To the west there was an open pine woods and a low range of hills,
apparently succeeded by another plain, upon which there is a lake called Freaner, the name of
an unfortunate gentleman who is supposed to have been killed by the Indians in its vicinity
Many Indians were daily seen in every part of the mountains, but they invariably fled
upon seeing us. Dismounting from our animals, we determined to attempt the passage of
the field of lava (pedrigal) to a high bluff beyond; but the path was so bad that many of them
could not be led, and we were obliged to remount, and in two miles succeeded in extricating
ourselves from it by the most difficult path I have ever seen. Ascending the bluff, the red soil
of which was friable and dusty, we still found a stony path, but it afforded us an extensive view
of the country for many miles, overlooking the Sacramento and Fall rivers, and the valley of
Canoe creek. Here, as above, the valley of Canoe creek is but a few miles wide, and is almost
entirely occupied by fields of volcanic rocks-the part we had crossed being but a small angle
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