University of Oklahoma College of Law University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 3-3-1859 Topographical memoir and report of Captain T. J. Cram, on Territories of Oregon and Washington Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/indianserialset Part of the Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons Recommended Citation H.R. Exec. Doc. No. 114, 35th Cong., 2nd Sess. (1859) This House Executive Document is brought to you for free and open access by University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 by an authorized administrator of University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 35Tl'I CoNGREss, } HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. { Ex. Doc. 2d Session. No. 1 L4. TOPOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE PACIFIC. FROM THE SECRETARY OF WAR, TRANSM11TING The topographical memoir and report qf Captain T. J. Gram, relative to the Territories qf Oregon and Washington, in the military department ~ of the Pacific. MARCH 3, 1859.-Lo.id on the table, and ordered to be printed. WAR DEPARTMENT, March 3, 1859. SIR: I transmit herewith the report of Captain T. J. Cram, Topo­ graphical Engineers, on the military department of the Pacific, called for by a resolution of the House of Representatives. The topographical information contained in this report is, to a great extent, published in the reports and maps of the War Department, or is in course of preparation. A large portion of the report is devoted to subjects irrelevant tu its objects, as indicated by the title and the duties of Captain Cram, and contains animadversions upon public functionaries, which are out of place in a topographical communication, and which are, in no)sense, sanctioned or endorsed by this department. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN B. FLOYD; Secretary~ of War .. Hon. JAMES L. ORR, Speaker of the House of Representatives. 2 TOPOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF ExPLORATIONs AND SuRVEYS, Washington, February 24, 1859. SIR: I transmit herewith the military topographical memoir and re­ port, with maps: on the military department of the Pacific, by Captain T. J. Cram, Topographical Engineers, called for by a resolution of the House of Representatives of January 8. This is the report to which I called the special attention of the War Department in a report dated March 1, 1858. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, A. A. HUMPHREYS, Captain of Topographical Engineers, in cha1·ge . .lJ.frilitary topographical memoir and 1·eport, with maps, -r.- on the United States military department if the Pacific, by Thomas Jefferson Cram, captain Corps if Topograph·ical EngineeTs, chiif topographical engineer, ·department if the Pacific, 1855, '56, '57. PREFACE. This memoir has been drawn up by virtue of orders receiYed by me ·while serving in the department of the Pacific, under the command ,of Major General J. E. Wool, United States army, of which the fol- 1lowing is a copy: HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE PACIFIC, Benicia, California, J1me 20, 1855. 'SIR: The commanding general directs that you prepare a topo­ ~ graphical memoir, or view of the department of the Pacific, and that, . ·for this purpose, you consult such papers as may be on file at these 'headquarters. You will also call upon any officers serving within the department for such information as they may be able to give you iin the execution of these instructions. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant AdJutant General. (Captain T. J. CRAM, Topographical Enginee?·s, Benicia, California. Accordingly, the information herein embodied has been derived- 1. From reports, sketches, journals of marches by officers of the 1ine, containing much that is valuable, and from reports of recon- 1naiseances and maps by topographical engineer officers, as I found them at headquarters, without, however, having been, as it seemed c The maps, not having been. ordered by the Committee on Engraving, have not been ;printed. DEPARTMENT OF TilE PACIFIC. 3 to me., previously digested, arranged, and embodied in a useful shape for pr::~ctical military purposes, before being forwarded to the War Department. 2. From conversations during personal interviews with many officers of the line and of the staff (too many to be here enumerated) who had been serving in various districts of the department, and who seemed to me to have intelligently calculated the resources of the country and various points of the different branches of the military service. 3. From my own personal observations upon the country, and upon the practical operations of the several branches of the service,· during a tour of duty (of from two to three years) in various directions and at various places, and in various surveys and reconnaissances in the department in the years 1855, '56, '57, while in the performance of duties as senior topographical engineer officer, attached to the general staff of the commanding general of the department of the Pacific. In drawing up the memoir and report I have not confined myself simply to the task of reporting topographical information, but have shaped aU in a manner, while rendering much of that kind of informa­ tion in the text and maps, so as also to meet the requisition contained in paragraph 481, Army Regulations; hence the double title of "Me­ moir and Report,'' seen on title page. Therefore: it will be observed that this will contain what may be regar~ed as a report of the military and other operations connected with, or having relation to, the military service, as they came under my own observation; and it will likewise embrace my own views, as well as the views of other officers when relevant, in regard to various points, upon which it will be seen by those having the patience to follow me that I have freely, but I trust respectfully, commented in the ensuing chapters. Not only shall I deem it within the scope of my province to report what I regard as existing evils in the working of the military opera­ tions of the regular army, and of the self-constituted volunteer armies that have been in the field in the department, and of the Indian ser­ vice in its relations with the army, but I shall feel at perfect liberty to report suggestions which, from a source however destitute of pre­ tension~ might, if carried into effect~ remove those evils, to the great benefit of the army service in the department of the Pacific. I.-General description if the military department of the Pacific. This department ineludes within its limits the State of California, the Territories of Oregon, Washington, and Utah, containing 718,361 square miles in surface; to use the language of one of its distinguished commanders~ ':altogether, in size, an empire of itself." Map No. 1 represents its general features, as far as necessary for general description. The military posts, as now located, are named in red letters, and are 21 in number, viz: nine in Califor.ni~, .fo.ur in 4 TOPOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR 0], THE Oregon, eight in Washington, and none in Utah; others may have to be established to meet exigencies. The physical features of this great area, while eminently favorable to secure the Indians and the depre· dating whites .from pursuit, are, in themselves, formidable obstacles to the transit of troops, with the necessary supplies for anything like an extended march into the interior of the country. These physical obstacles consist in numerous ranges of lofty mount· ains, of great extent, with which the whole department is checkered; a comparative deficiency in the number and extent of navigable rivers; the want of sui table natural roads, and the extreme difficulty of making roads, owing to the formidable obstacles presented by the mountains all over the department, and, besides, the denseness of the forests in Oregon and Washington. The only physical feature at all favorable to military movements is the great extent of seacoast navigation, from the post of San Diego to that at Bellingham Bay, an extent of about 1,400 miles, which may be regarded as the sea front of the depart· ment. Fortunately, this extensive front is furnished by nature with good harbors, viz: the Bay of San Diego at the south and the waters of Washington at the north; also one of the best in the world, at an in· termediate point, in the Bay of San Francisco.-(See maps Nos. 7, 16, 2.) This bay, and the other smaller tide-water bays with which it is con· nected by navigable straits and channels, are surrounded by a shore extent of 200 miles; and they are navigable by sail and steam vessels in any direction, and their waters communicate with the ocean by a deep navigable strait, the '' Golden Gate,'' inside of which stands the city of San Francisco.-(See map No. 2.) With these beautiful bays two navigable rivers (the Sacramento and San Joaquin) communicate: the former, from the north, affording steamboat navigation at all stages to Sacramento, 129 miles above San Francisco, and at high stages 150 miles further up; the latter river, coming from the southeast, affording similar navigation to Stockton, 115 miles above San Francisco. The Columbia is the only other river navigable for any extent piercing the ocean front of the department of the Pacific.-(See map 16.) But the circumstances of the bar at its mouth (see map No. 3) will forever preclude it from being a harbor.