Show answer to bic the governor coi arnor of waseng t on territory on a communication transmitting a copy of the 1 I resolution of the Legis lahie assembly ly of the territory of 0 wash ash inglan EXECUTIVE department OLYMPIA janu 1859 9 HON LA do DL president of the council SIR sin herewith transmitted is is a i communication muni cation from brig brigadier adier G general enera I 1 IV S harney II arney commanding department of oregon acknowledging the receipt of certain resolutions pissed assed by the legislative assembly assemble relative to the establishment lish ment of military pots posts along the emigrant road from the missouri nv river er to fort I 1 ort walla alla walla very respectfully your obedient servant C 11 MASON secretary and acting acting goar IV T diab quan dept tt VANCOUVER AV 17 jan 4 I 1 SIR I 1 have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your our communication of the of december last transmitting a copy of the resolutions of the legislative assembly As embly of the territory of tta relative to the establishment ot of military posts along the emigrant rodd road from the missouri Alis river river to fort walla walla in in compliance with th tha request of the assembly for this act of courtesy and consideration on the part of the assembly and for the confidence extended to myself expressed in its resolutions I 1 tender my Nv warmest thanks this generous welcome which has greeted me on my arrival in in t this h is distant conion of our great republica republic arouses ro uses feelings and thoughts that are we well I 1 shadowed eltonh forth in in the object for which the resolutions were framed viz viz the d difficulties existing exi existing stin in in communicating with the states of thelast the last I 1 concur with vilh the assembly as to the urgent necessity of opening op ining a practicable and easy route horn from ilie the missouri river to fort wrilla walla not only should this be done but a road from fort walla walla or the dalles should ae e opened and established to great salt lake city connecting at the same time irith the road to fort laramie an and missouri this suggestion has a ready already I 1 been submitted to cor the consideration of the government and I 1 am satisfied its construction st ruction w will ill be directed it has been my fortune at different periods of my life to pass over the greater part of the country through which these thee routes should be estable establish h td id and I 1 do not believe that in in any other portions of our c country 0 such good Ila natural tural roads for the s same ame rl distance istance could ie be laid the establishment of every facility of communication between the different sections of our country is essentially a military question apart from the vital social late interests rests depending upon it I 1 therefore do not hesitate to present my views at t this time lime on the subject of connect ing our pacific slope with that of the atlantic by a net work of roads As the social and political interests interest 3 of a state increase increase the necessity for the de SIM ane and protection of those interests becomes more imperative I 1 may say avith with propriety that n no 0 portion of our citizens are more deeply interested in in a safe the rapid a p id and certain communication with the east and west than those of t the he army they will not only be obliged to use it but to protect and secure it and they will ah always be found as the pioneers of civilization grateful for every suggestion gg estion tending to shorten and im improve the distance the vast and multiplying interests of comm commerce erce demanding a direct and certain communication are bi becoming ecoling familiar in aliar to the public mind but none can realize them to their fullest extent exten I 1 w who ho have never visited our pacific coat 1 ten en years ago ago when california sprang into existence among nations like a from the ashes of decay the world marveled and wondered the mind of man prone to judge of consequences bences by their immediate action on himself concluded the cause to be bethe the gold in in the soil forgetting for the moment that countries in in which only the precious metals abound hai have e ever been noted by decay and degradation let us suppose for a moment that the same amount of gold had been discovered at tho the north pole ten years ago would the country at the north pule pole present now the appearance energy and enterprise of california of oregon and washington territories 2 this question Is easily basily answered and dearly indicated it is is not the gold which has caused the united states to bo so proud of her pacific possessions it was the unrivaled advantages of soil and climate the unbounded resources m in the animal vegetable and mineral kingdoms and still above these that talisman of earthly greatness the first geographical position in in the world for commerce I 1 these were the causes which excited in the public mind that eager eager desire to grapple the pacific states w with etli links of steel ard which is is soon to become a na I 1 dional passion these states resting on that ocean which connects con neets the two grandest continents of the universe uma erae asia and america mus receive tribute from the west by every breeze that blows from japan front from russia from china and from all parts of asia the present commerce of the world will sink into mo insignificance in in com comparison a ri with that traffic which is is to be i mau au by the labors of five hundred in millions illions of the most industrious people of the earth who nho are hereafter to be known among men the very winds of f heaven on the pacific ocean mark out the course which this trade must tale take in it its movement through the world and the natural harbors and magnificent forests e ats tell us that this coast must be in in future times the queen of commerce when such facts as these present themselves to the mind of the american people lot let me ask is is there any an element of that restless determined energy which characterizes their nature to deter thim them from making the great preparations necessary for such events ev did id they hesitate to establish a national I 1 road between the eastern and western states when the interests of i the country required it ita and were v ere not the difficulties of accomplishment at that time as great in in connection with that road as any of the difficulties now existing on any of the proposed pacific routes have they permitted the most trying circumstances or the most ad ve terse difficulties I 1 ties to weigh a moment in in the scale when the honor interest and reputation of our common country was concerned 2 it is is this faith in in the desire of our countrymen to see our national great riess ness increase that convinces convinces me the brilliant prospects of california oregon and washinton washington territories will be fully realized realized lahat that the time is not far distant when the crowning work of steam will be victoriously accomplished when engines of such size size and power will be so constructed as to condense days into hours miles into inches and when the passage from one ocean to the other on our own soil will only occupy from one day of rest to another I 1 am in in favor of multiplying the number of roads between the alii i river river and the pacific states and of opening railroads railroads on each and all when the location and interests warrants so doing in connection with this subject an 1 important i m question must be answer answered e d who are to people the immense immense plains and and wastes between the confines of missouri and the sierra nevada neada mountains of california 2 who are aie to build up the system of roads and railroads through that country we require the american and the european leave leave behind them those wastes and hurries to the fertile and well watered shores of the pacific the destiny of the indian is is written in in tha thai settem setting sun from whence then are tha the people to come who will vill be willing and v who ho can make a garden of a desert in the dispensation of divine provi pro v dence does it pot dij par ar chule ib sit gret and powerful nation dation now being established on this continent was not to receive becee its origin onam or its destiny from any one of the races of men but that each and all contributing their intellect their energy and their laor labor to the bous work of omnipotent design would unconscious ly create a fabric of such glorious and transcendent structure as to become a monument of his power and goodness As europe and africa hav have e built buil t the railroads d dug ug the canals and planted the fields to the east of the mississippi sipi does it not seem but natural that asia with her surplus population should do the same for the country west of that river n era does it not appear that there exists but one people whose history and whose ia labors show that they are qualified for the duty of regenerating the rocky mountains a people who remained a mystery ter for thousands of yea years rs whose number bg patience industry and economy have achieved the most remarkable deeds where labor and privation were required and where quiet inoffensive and peaceful habits became a necessity 2 a people who to secure themselves from a warlike neighbor built a wall 1 to intervene between them of such dimensions men of such length and over such mountains mountain s plains and rivers rivers in in one unbroken chain as to claim for it a place among the wonders of the world a people whose products and manufactures are already domesticated with us usa 3 I 1 refer to 0 the people of china let us commence then tho the railroads let ie us encourage the chinese to emigrate and build them let them be organized in in the interior which assimilates to many pins parts of their own country let steam and lightning perform their proper labors by acm removing lg mountains and dispensing with time and we shall give a stimulus to commerce energy and enterprise enter prize which the most enthusiastic mind cannot now picture with sentiments of high consideration I 1 remain sir very respectfully your obedient servant WILLIAM S HARNEY brigadier general U S A commanding r andin to his excellency C H mason acting governor of washington ter 01 olympia puget paget sound bound |