Page 104 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

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Buchanan’s executive cabinet, Howell Cobb of the Treasury, John Buchanan Floyd of War, and Inte- rior Secretary Thompson. Many of the appoint- ments were based on political expediency, sectional interests, or personal friendship.
For the Franklin-Yuma road, James B. Leach, who hadpreviouslycontractedwiththeWarDepartment for improving the Salt Lake-Southern California route in 1855, was named general superintendent. The position of chief engineer went to N. Henry Hutton, who had worked with Amiel Weeks Whip- ple, John Grubb Parke, and Gouverneur Kemble Warren, all of the Topographical Engineers, on their various railroad surveys and reconnaissances in the early and mid- 1850s. There were several lesser ap-
pointments, including Leach’s assistant and per- sonal friend, David Churchill Woods, who would later betray this trust and cause Leach much grief.
After protracted discussion, the route construction was planned (Figure 26) and Leach received his final
have had faith in this approach, because he wrote to Secretary of War Floyd, and persuaded him to in- clude 75 Sharp’s rifles, 20 Colt’s belt pistols, 11,250 rifle-ball cartridges, and 3,000 pistol cartridges.
On June 27, 1857, Leach pulled out of Memphis, Tennessee, the assembly and supply depot for all the menandequipment,forFranklin,Texas. Eachof the 40 wagons was equipped with two 10-gallon water kegs and a traveling forge, complete with blacksmith’s tools and small quantities of iron and coke, all essential to prolonged overland travel. Fif- teen of the wagons were drawn by mules and the remainder, more heavily laden, were pulled by oxen.
With adverse road conditions caused by heavy rains, the first party required 117 days to cover the 1,309 miles to Franklin, instead of the 40 days Leach had unrealistically estimated. Many of the men, including Leach, would become ill along the way as a result of the hardships and bad weather. The animals also suffered greatly because of road condi- tions, the oxen even more than the mules. As a result the men were forced to winter in Fort Belknap along the Brazos River in north-central Texas until the following May. This second group finally arrived at Mesilla two days less than a year after leaving Mem-
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This reduc- tion of rolling stock was probably due to the
consumption of commissary goods along the way. In the interim Leach had not been idle. Upon arriving in Franklin on October 22, 1857, he had divided his men into several teams and set them to work improving the road according to plan. He personally supervised improvements between El Paso and Mesilla, and it was on this stretch only that an Indian problem was recorded. About five miles above Fort Bliss, Mescaleros stole several mules and
horses from one of the road parties.
Despite the difficulties in getting started, Leach
had made such good progress by August 1, 1858, that he initiated a reduction of the work force and set some of the remaining crews to improving parts of the road already completed. That work progressed rapidly, and the remaining party was disbanded and
instructions on May 9, 1857.
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These instructions
included a complex set of rules laid down by
Secretary Thompson on reporting expenditures. An
elaborate set of books was required using multiple
copies of transactions and multiple signatures by all
parties on all purchase vouchers. In addition, Leach
was instructed not to engage in heavy grading or
bridge building but to report any requirements for
such work to the Department, along with an estimate
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of cost.
Leach planned to hire about 100 skilled laborers in
the east and complete the work force with 200 Mexicans when he reached Franklin. To minimize procurement problems, Leach also planned to pur- chase all equipment and provisions in the east, ex- cept for fresh meat, and freight it to the Rio Grande. He estimated that he would need $35,000 for mules and wagons, $28,000 for commissary supplies, $4,000 for tools, and $6,300 for camp equipage. Leach’s commissary stores included 27,000 pounds of bacon, 19,225 of sugar, 10,012 of coffee, 2,675 of soap, 234 bushels of beans, and 40 barrels of vinegar. To this he added $5,000 worth of ammunition and 35 kegs
phis, and without 11 of the 25 wagons.
The Government Wagon Roads
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of blasting powder.
Some feared that in certain areas the Indians might
interfere with the road construction. To forestall this possibility, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs’ budget was tapped for $200 to $500 for each road superintendent to purchase gifts for influential tribal members. InteriorSecretaryThompsonmaynot
the property sold by October 16, 1858. To com- plete their responsibilities to the government, Leach and Hutton made a report to Congress on their achievements.
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Hutton, the Chief Engineer, noted that the road was almost entirely within the Gadsden Purchase and followed routes at least partially estab- lishedbyCooke,Nugent,Hays,variouspartiesofthe