St. Louis the Commercial Centre of North America [pp. 308-320]

SAINT LOUIS. 313
Number of boats............................... 50
. " passengers.......................... 2,500
Pounds of freight.............................. 13,000,000
Value of merchandise.......................... $6,500,000
The trade across the Plains is of still greater magnitude. The
overland freight from Atchison alone has increased from 3,000,000
pounds in 1861 to 21,500,000 in 1865.
The Overland Dispatch Company have courteously furnished
me with estimates, founded upon their own transactions, of our
total commerce with the territories in 1865. These figures do
not include the Fort Beniton trade.
Number of passengers east and west by overland coaches 4, 800
".." ".by trains and pri vate conveyances.............................. 50,000
Number of wagons............................... 8,000
. " cattle and mules........................ 100,000
Pounds of freight to Plattsmouth.................. 3,000,000
".." Leavenworth................. 6,000,000
".".Santa F6..................... 8,000,000
".-."St. Joseph.................... 10,000,000
Nebraska City................ 15,000,000
".".Atchison..................... 25,000,000
Government freight................................ 50,000,000
Total number of pounds...................... 117,000,000
Amount of treasure carried by express............... $3,000,000
"...". by private conveyance.... 30,000,000
The Overland Express charge 3 per cent. for the transportation
of bullion. This high commission, and the hostility of the Indian
tribes, induced many miners to send their gold east by the way
of San Francisco to Panama.
In 1866, the total assay of bullion in the United States was
$81,389,540. Of this aggregate, $73,032,800 came from the Pacific and Rocky Mountain mines. Upon the usual estimate that
25 per cent. of the gold and silver escapes assay, the entire product of the country in 1866 was $1,090,000. The increase of population in the gold regions, the richness of recent discoveries, and
greater activity in mining operations indicate a still larger aggregate in 1867.
In 1866, the westward traffic of Leavenworth amounted to
$50,000,000. This aggregate includes the Santa Fe trade, whose
value last year was about $35,000,000. The Western trade of
Nebraska City was, in
1863...................................... 16,800,000 pounds.
1864..................................... 23,000,000
1865...................................... 44,000,000
1866...................................... 30,000,000 "
The freightage firom this point across the Plains required, in
1865, 11,739 men, 10,311 wagons, 10,123 mules, and 76,596
oxen.