Cottonwood Springs the junction of the North and South branches of the
Platte was reached. From here the course moved steadily westward,
through Fremont's Springs, O'Fallon's Bluffs, Alkali, Beauvais Ranch,
and Diamond Springs to Julesburg, on the South fork of the Platte. Here
the stream was forded and the rider then followed the course of Lodge
Pole Creek in a northwesterly direction to Thirty Mile Ridge. Thence he
journeyed to Mud Springs, Court-House Rock, Chimney Rock, and Scott's
Bluffs to Fort Laramie. From this point he passed through the foot-hills
to the base of the Rockies, then over the mountains through South Pass
and to Fort Bridger. Then to Salt Lake City, Camp Floyd, Ruby Valley,
Mountain Wells, across the Humboldt River in Nevada to Bisbys', Carson
City, and to Placerville, California; thence to Folsom and Sacramento.
Here the mail was taken by a fast steamer down the Sacramento River to
San Francisco.

A large part of this route traversed the wildest regions of the
Continent. Along the entire course there were but four military posts
and they were strung along at intervals of from two hundred and fifty to
three hundred and fifty miles from each other. Over most of the journey
there were only small way stations to break the awful monotony.
Topographically, the trail covered nearly six hundred miles of rolling
prairie, intersected here and there by streams fringed with timber. The
nature of the mountainous regions, the deserts, and alkali plains as
avenues of horseback travel is well understood. Throughout these areas
the men and horses had to endure such risks as rocky chasms, snow
slides, and treacherous streams, as well as storms of sand and snow. The
worst part of the journey lay between Salt Lake City and Sacramento,
where for several hundred miles the route ran through a desert, much of
it a bed of alkali dust where no living creature could long survive. It
was not merely these dangers of dire exposure and privation that