Captain George B. McClellan––a West Point graduate and engineer who later led the Union Armies in the Civil War––headed a survey party on the 49th parallel. His field notes included useful American Indian vocabularies, such as this Comanche glossary. Communications with Native Americans provided knowledge of the environs that could be reported to Congress.
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Field Note Journal of George McClellan, May 20–December 15, 1853
Debating the Rail Route
In 1853 Congress authorized funds for the Army Corps of Engineers to survey four possible routes for a railway from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Members of Congress recognized the potential for commerce and development that a transcontinental railway would bring, and they advocated strenuously for their own regions. Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri was an outspoken proponent of a central route. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, a former and future senator from Mississippi, favored a southern route.
Captain George B. McClellan––a West Point graduate and engineer who later led the Union Armies in the Civil War––headed a survey party on the 49th parallel. His field notes included useful American Indian vocabularies, such as this Comanche glossary. Communications with Native Americans provided knowledge of the environs that could be reported to Congress.
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
