Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/105

Rh the safety of troops and stores which must usually be transported by sea requiring these guides to navigation. He recommended the survey of a railroad to the Pacific, or at least of a wagon-road, and that it should cross the Rocky Mountains about latitude 38°, deflect to the Humboldt Valley, and follow that direction until it should send off a branch to Oregon by way of the Willamette Valley, and another by way of the Sacramento Valley to the bay of San Francisco.

Before the plans of General Smith for the distribution of troops could be carried out, one hundred and twenty of the riflemen deserted in a body, with the intention of going to the mines in California. Governor Lane immediately issued a proclamation forbidding the citizens to harbor or in any way assist the runaways, which caused much uneasiness, as it was said the people along their route were placed in a serious dilemma, for if they did not sell them provisions they would be robbed, and if they did, they would be punished. The deserters, however, having organized with a full complement of officers, travelled faster than the proclamation, and conducted themselves in so discreet a manner as to escape suspicion, imposing themselves upon the farmers as a company sent out on an expedition by the government, getting beef cattle on credit, and receiving willing aid instead of having to resort to force.