Beale described the route, "It is the shortest from our western frontier by , being nearly directly west. It is the most level: our wagons only double-teaming once in the entire distance, and that at a short hill, and over a surface heretofore unbroken by wheels or trail on any kind. It is well-watered: our greatest distance without water at any time being . It is well-timbered, and in many places the growth is far beyond that of any part of the world I have ever seen. It is temperate in climate, passing for the most part over an elevated region. It is salubrious: not one of our party requiring the slightest medical attendance from the time of our leaving to our arrival ... It crosses the great desert (which must be crossed by any road to California) at its narrowest point." Beale's Wagon Road would eventually be supplanted by the railroad in the early 1880s, then
U.S. Route 66 in 1926, and
Interstate 40 in 1978.
Beale's recommendations After his initial survey of the road, E.F. Beale went to
Washington, D.C. to make recommendations to members of
Congress and the
War Department: : Beale suggested that, in addition to a military fort, the route was also in immediate need of bridges and dams to ensure safe travel and provide a reliable water supply; he requested $100,000 to fund the improvements. ==References==