January 17, 1849. J.J. Speed to Ezra Cornell: "We must have a line from St. Louis to Fort Independence, and ultimately to the great Commercial Emporium on the Pacific, at the bay of San Francisco. If the 'gold diggins' are what they are cracked up to be, there will be a city at San Francisco of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants in less than ten years, Whitneys RRoad will be built and the telegraph along side of it." Topics: Telegraph business correspondence: materials and supplies, finances, western lines, conflict with O'Reilly's lines, stocks, patent rights; cholera Personal names: Cornell, Alonzo B.; Speed, J.J.; O'Reilly, Henry; Tillotson, D.T. Geography: Detroit; Cleveland