the Big Horn. The feasiblity of opening a route on this parallel was discussed when I was in command of the Department of Oregon, and I had determined to make a thorough examination of the country in an expedition which had been planned against the Snake Indians for the summer of 1861; but my removal from that country, together with all the regular troops, caused a temporary suspension of remote operations, but the subject was not loszt sight of. I am now in receipt of a communciation from Major P. Lugenbeel, Nineteenth Infantry, commanding Fort Boise, referring to the same subject. The major is an officer of great, experience and sound judgment, and although no critical survey of the route has been made, yet I am disposed to rely with great confidence on the conclusion which he draws from the information he has gathered from the most reliable sources.

The route proposed, intermediatek between that of the Missouri, via Fort Benton on the north, and that by the South Pass and Fort Hall on the south, will be the shortest and most direct. The distance from Fort Boise to the navigable waters of the eastern slope is siad not to exceed 400 miles. In view of the mineral development in Oregon east of Fort Dalles, and more particularly in the Territory of Idaho, the construction of a road over the route proposed would be of great benefit in a military point, enabling us to move troops with facility in case of any difficulties arising between the miners and Indians. The opening of this route would necessarily compel us to establish a military post in the valley, of the Yellowstone, as the country is filled with Indians and mineral wealth.

Very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

G. WRIGHT,

Brigadier-General, U. S. Army, Commanding.

SPECIAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF THE PACIFIC, No. 230.
San Francisco, Cal., October 8, 1863.

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4. The commanding officer of the Ninth U. S. Infantry will send one company of the Ninth Infantry to encamp on Point San Jose and take and hold military possession of such land as Colonel De Russy may designate as necessary for the erection of batteries.

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By order of Brigadier-General Wright:

E. SPARROW PURDY,
Assistant Adjutant-General.

SPECIAL ORDERS,
HDQRS. HUMBOLDT MILITARY DISTRICT, No. 90.
Fort Humboldt, October 8, 1863.

I. Captain J. P. Simpson, Company E, First Battalion Mountaineers, California Volunteers, will proceed on to-morrow with his company to Eel River, at the point where the U. S. mail route crosses that stream, about twenty miles south of Hydesville. After due examination, if you think that an eligible point, you will there establish the headquarters of your company. Should you conclude, however, that the bottom lands at that point are subject to overflow in winter; that the facilities for obtaining timber, water, and grazing are not good, or for