Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-12-01
DEBRIS.
Iaarrrurrn PROM r1RgT pAeE.l

could take care very ,iN1cr,y VI VIC HS
az 1.ae 1avses to Knights Landing held. Those
. Sas thew cultivated large portion of the
3{, eH IN ghe Lisbon district. In 1854 it was
.'-bat thev called dry winter. Since then
~ iov lands have been covered more or less
va s.,;tb water; that is, the low lands were
Hooded. From 1865 to 1870 the high tules
we're cultivated. The title to this land is
that obtsioed by purchase under the swamp
and oysrfowed land Act. There is less high
Lend in that locality new than there
was in 1880. | was en- this land with
Henry TreichleT in 1850. The leyees
on Grand Island have broken four times.
They broke in 1928, lS74-75, and 1880
In 1872 the legees were not completed. The
water in 1872 was not as high as in other
winters. but the levee at that time was not
finished. The first little levees on Grand
Island were commenced IN 1858. l could not
saw that the chaznel Of the Sacramento river
at Grand Island had been filed mp much go
early as 1858. l first bought land on Grand
Island in 1867. 1 sold my interest there in
1875. l have had no interest in the island
since that time. Since I sold out there, I
ness, and my attention has been called to the
condition of the river and the leyees.
THE LEvEEs
On Lisbon district generally broke first in
the tules. It also has broken over on the
river front. When the tule water broke
through it did not fill up the district to the
hight of the front levee. The back leyee runs
through the deepest part of the tules. The
back ievee was twenty feet six inches high,
and was intended to resist tule water to the
depth Of sixteen feet. The water ran over
the top of the levees. Former years the wind
caused waves that destroyed the levee quite
rapidly. This last winter we had but little
wind and slight wash. My impression is that
we could save our levee if it were completed.
We could have save it against As hours Of
strong wind. It could not wash the leyee
down in one year. because the material was
tough and sticky, and would wash but little.
The channel below Rio Vista was so narrow
that it did not afford rapid escape for the
largest foods, and consequently backed
tules. It probably backed the water
for distance of two or three miles.
The tule In the Lisbon district was filled up
last spring. At the Lisbon district it is from
the river three AID one-half miles back to
the cross levee. From the end of Babel
slough it is only one and one-quarter miles to
high land the slough is three aud one
quarter Talles long. In the food of 1852
Che water was from the high land to the river,
at the narrowest point, FIVE miles wide. The
tule Of the Lisbon district has very little de-
post. The class of sediment on Prospect
Island would be benefi. in Lisbon district,
if not laid in too great quantities. Nearly
all swamp land owners object to the sediment
deposits. My own opinion is that two feet
dsep would be too much of it. | know the
English break, three miles aboye Washington.
In 1880 part Of the American river went
through there. When the American comes
down first it raises the Sacramento. and a part
of it ran through there. l think when the
American rises very rapidly that some of the
water backs up the Sacramento and gets
through the English break. l don't mean to
say the English break was caused by the
American river On the American river,
above Auburn, in 1852, there were one or two
thousand miners more than in 1880. These
men were engaged in working the bars in the
river and In working in the
BED OF THE RIVER.
frequently they would turn the river and
mine out the he'd. They found sand and
gravel. Some OF them would go fifteen feet
down. They'd have to go down to the bed
rock and remove the sand and gravel to get
it. Sometimes they had to remove clay and
cobbles. Generally the clay was near the
buff banks. That was the way they mined
clear down to Rattlesnake Bar. The mining
nearly or about ceased by 1858. Often it was
because the pay dirt was exhausted. Mining
on the Rattlesnake began with water brought
in by the North Fork Ditch. They cut down
some Of the red-soil banks as much as fifty
feet, and sluiced them right out into the river.
That was, say, up to 1854. Before that they
used long toms up on the high ground, but
only had the water then that they could get
from neighboring ravine. Before the North
Fork canal was built there were number
of small bitches, the miners using every
available cup Of water from the ravines One
was il Sutter ravine, carrying 400 OF 500
inches in The spring. The tailings went gen.
orally into the river The distance from
Horseshoe Bar to Kentucky Bar is two and
one-half miles. Part Of this river was filed
to the depth Of 80 feet most of the debris
came from Wild Goose Flat. The water for
the mines on this fat czme FROM the George.
town Divide. kentucky Bar is above Rat
tlesnake Bar. Whisky Bar ia threequarters
of mile from Kentucky Bar. My usual
way of coming to Sacramento bsfore the
building of the railroad was with teams.
have lived in Sacramento since 1865. lived
in Msrysville from 1855 to 1865. Have been
engaged in business at Marysville % years
and at Sacramento q years that IL, between
the two places in that period. l worked a
mine at the junction of the North and Middle
Forks in 1S49. have seen hydraulic mines
at Bloomfield, Michigan Bluff, Dutch Flat
and Gold Run. The Dutch Flat mines dis
charge their debris into the Bear river.
I was
At GOLD RUN
In 1866 1868, 1871 and 1873. The mines at
Michigan Bluff discharge into the Middle
Fork of the American river. 1 don't know
as l can describe in detail how the hydraulic
mining at Gold Run was done. The debris
from hydraulic mines that is dumped into the
Bear river differs from that deposited by SIM
liar miues into the American river. The
water from Bear river was conducted by a
canal TO Rattlesnske Bar, used in mining,
and discharged into the American river there
at one time. l don't know of any other points
where that water was used in mines that dis
charged into the American, but water was
used from this ditch to work claim at Clip
per Gap for about four weeks. The Bear
river canal carries large amount of debris !;
more debris than is ia the waters OF the
American. The debris that comes through
the Bear river canal after lying few years
makes productive soil. Water from that ditch
is run over rough and rocky surfaces in
order to collect the deposit and make SOIL
There are deposits of sediment in the neigh
borhood of Auburn and Newcastle, run
over land on which there are gardens now,
and one is being cultivated very successfully.
The sell at Auburn is different from that at
Doten's Bar-one is slate color and the
other a red. A reservoir at Newcastle is
being cultivated that has depth of fifteen
feet of slickens in it. Cobbles at Kentucky
Bar | know have gone the distance of mile
from there. When first went up the North
Fork in 1919 / found plenty of falls from
twenty to forty feet in hight. There
was one near the junction of the North and