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distances between them. Bailey reported: “This was compiled with great care, chiefly from
data obtained on the road, and, although it doubtless contains some errors, it may be
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regarded as approximately correct.”
Kenyon returned to California as superintendent of the First Division. Each division
superintendent was assigned the task to contract for stations or to build new stations where
they were needed. The Los Angeles Star of June 26, 1858, published an interview with
Kenyon in which he gave a preliminary report of his station choices from San Francisco to
Los Angeles. He stated that the distances between Fort Tejon and Los Angeles were
measured with a “viameter,” more commonly known today as an odometer.
Figure 2. An 1839 patent for a wagon odometer similar to the “viameter” Kenyon used to measure
distances between stations. The meter would show distances to 1/100 mile. In 1862, the California
Column used them to measure the distances between many of the stations. I have found their data to be
reasonably accurate and an important aid for identifying station locations.
Benjamin Franklin invented the wagon odometer.
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