It is not possible to conceive any military necessity for the enormous expenditures at Fort Dalles. Fort Vancouver serves as the depot for the supply of the Department of the Columbia, and the military establishment at The Dalles seems more like a private speculation than a public necessity.

NEVADA.

Fort Ruby will serve as a center of operations for the protection of the overland mail and emigrant roads to Salt Lake and the settlements Humboldt River beyond Dun Glen. An inspecting officer has been sent to examine its condition, and will probably report in a few days. Fort Churchill is simply a depot. Some of the temporary camps near the boundary (northern) of the State must depend ons.

CALIFORNIA.

Forts Cook, Wright, Humboldt, and Gaston and the adjacent camps in the norther part of California must be maintained for the present winter, but it is probable that some of these posts may be dispensed with the next season. Several artillery garrisons, as already remarked, will be kept in the forst of the Bay of San Francisco simply as seacoast defenses. Monterey and Camp Union have been abandoned, and I can see no necessity for a garrison at Benicia. The constructions of barracks, storehouses, and stables at that place was most ill-advised and the enormous sums of money expended there were of little or no benefit to the Government, however advantageous they may have been to private speculations. San Francisco always has been and always will be the depot of supplies for California and Nevada. Visalia is the only military post maintanied at present in the San Joaquin Valley, and General McDowell is of opinion that this camp may soon be dispensed with. The mining settlements at Owen's River and Lake, and in that vicinity, will require military protection for some years. A substantial post must therefore be established in that district of country, from which temporary camps may be thrown out as the population advances. Its maintenance will be very expensive, and its garrison should therefore be kept as low as may be consistent with safety and the proper protection of the district. Camp Independence is probably the best location. Camp Cady was established and is kept up for the protection of the road from Cajon to Fort Mohave. The discovery and development of valuable minerals between the Sierra Nevada and the Colorado, and the numbers of Indians which inhabit or roam over that region of country, will render it necessary to keep up a considerable military force for its security and protection.

ARIZONA.

The map will show the present disposition of military posts in the Territory of Arizona. Probably the winter campaign against the Apaches will cause some considerable changes. The most important problem to be solved is that of supplying the posts in that Territory. At present there are four routes of supply: First, by sea, the Gulf of California, and the Colorado River; second, from Wilmington to Fort Yuma; third, from Wilmington to La Paz; and fourth, from Wilmington to Fort Mojave. There is no great difference in the expense of reaching Arizona by either route from San Francisco, which is the