Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-11-19
sL1cKENs IN COURT.

OlO COulby3 ldSb hiulcIs OI6 was Caucu
"sliekens" aud the other white sand"
(The " slickensn was cracker-sized cake of
dried, whitish-yellowish matter.
Mr.. Holland resumed l am well acquaint-
ed with Hugh Larue have known him for a
great many years. The sediment that | spoke
of as slickens is a finer material, and when
wet is very sticky, and a person cannot walk
through it then. When dry it cracks. aad l
have seen cracks that 1 could put stick
down in for four or five feet. This slickens
will produce fine crop of willows, but
will produce nothing else. After be
| ing exposed to the sun for few
partial crop, but it is nothing compared
with the old soil. have been through Mr..
Larue's orchard many times there is moth
| ing lett of il now. l don't know how many
acres ne had. He raised many kinds OF
peaches there. Those trees were de.
stroyed by water from the American
river standing on the ground and leaving
these sandy deposits. For the last six years
| il has virtually been abandoned. There
always has been good demand for peaches
Larue raised fine peaches on his place al
| first. I came from San Francisco when
| came to Sacramento, on an ocean steamer,
| the Hartford. She was a side.wheeler. II
was in the month OF July. had no trouble
Ia coming up the river. 1t was beautiful
stream, with fine banks, which were well
wooded. The water in the river was ap-
parently of crystalline purity. / first bsgar
| to notice changes in the Sacramento river in
| 1S67-S-9. and saw some bars forming at that
time. They ran the steamers New World
and Senator to this point as late as 1875.
| have seen ships and sailing vessels of all
kinds at the Sacramento wharf. have been
| up the American river ten miles at great
| I hoy 2Oun fEe ms
| lean from that point in skif since 1867
| The American has been growing
| WORSE AND WORSE
Every year-destroys more and more every
| high water. A few winters the waters were
very low and did little damage. When i;
rains here in the evening we see its effect on
| the American river the next morning. Have
| seen that river rise four feet in twelve hours
| Cross-examination by Mr.. Catlin-I have
| 65 acres, all on this side of the American
river. Formerly it was in tie city limits. II
| lies on both sides of the public road leading
| to Marysville-10 acres on the north and 81
| on the south side of that road. My land lies
| between the north levee and the American
river. johnson, English aud Beatty own the
lands between Sacramento city and the
| American river, bordering on the Sacramento
river. Here Mr.. Holland was shown map
of Sacramento city and vicinity, and asked
to point out certain lands that he had been
| describing. He recognized the map and
| pointed out the lands'a as requested.l | went
| to the mines in 1850, and remained there
! fourteen or fifteen years. Was engaged in
mining all that time. I was surface mining,
and was engaged on streams thss are
tributary to the Feather and Yuba rivers
I When I left the mines 1 came directly to
Sacramento, and have resided here ever
since. Remember the north levee was on its
present site at that time. That levee is con-
sidered very safe leyee at present. Its base
is probably fifty feet It is from twelve to
| fourteen feet wide on the top. Had cherry
orchard three years ago that was five years
old. They were all planted in black soil
| At that time there was four or six inches oi
| debris on the top of the soil. 1t, however
was not of sufficient depth at that time tc
| destroy the land. When [ purchased my
| place it was comparatively
FREE FROM SEDIMENT.
| Up to that time the overflow had been q
| water not heavily laden with detritus, ano
when it receded it left very little trace of the
| overflow. In the field where my cherry
| orchard was planted there was, at the time
| the trees were set out four or FIVE inches ol
| sediment This sediment did not ma
| terially affect the soil, as we dug through
| it into the rich black loan. In the
| other field there were heavier deposits, but
it all could be plowed through, and
the old soil reached, with a common plow.
This grade don't run quite parallel with the
| levee until it comes to Twelfth street. From
there it is probably four blocks angling
across toward the bridge. The water comes
right across Twelfth street and empties into
| what we call China slough. / can't say that
| the north levee and the graded road and other
| levees obstruct the water and make it higher
on the lands above. The north leyee holds
| the water back from the lowlands this side,
| but it runs nearly parallel with the river.
| When the Sacramento is high and the Amer
| lean is high, and we have what we call high
water, the levees do back up the waters,
| should think, where it comes against them
! Slickens cracks when it dries in the sun.
| have seen the old adobe soil crack too. but
| only in chips like. The slickens can be
| plowed after it once becomes dry, but il
stands in cakes until decomposed by the sun
I have seen it crack four inches wide.
| never saw adobe crack like that l saw the
| New World up here as late as 1879. think
l have seen her within ten years. / came uI
the river on the steamer Hartford in 1850
| and the water was clear and the trees greer
en the banks. In some places willows grew
| on the banks, but not mostly 50. They wert
mostly large trees on the banks. l saw bis
trees all along hanging over the water.
| know thought it
| A BEAUTIFUL RIVER.
| In the sand drifts in the river [ recognize
| sand from the mines that is, l know Oh
recognize that it came from up the river, anc
believe it came from the mines. I have seer
similar sand at Gold Run and Dutch Flat II
| the hydraulic mines. But never did that
| quantity of sand come from the placer bars
| between here and Folsom. 1t couldn't have
come in that quantity, 1 should think, from
| Mississippi Bar. 1 never was there. 1 expect
some of it did come from there. 1t probably
came from all the places named. I know il
| came down the rivers. 1 can't say how much
came down the north fork, or the south fork
| of the American river. [ know nothing more
of mines on the American river, further, than
| that I've seen them about San Juan. I've
seen where they have washed for gold on bars
| on the American river, ten or twelve miles
above Sacramento city, on the south side. ]
have not cultivated my land proftably only
as to part of the trees, since l bought it. I'd
SOW alfalfa, and the water would come on
each year and cover it up, and | never got
a crop out. I didn't observe the big floods OF
| 61-62. passed here, but was on my way to
the Atlantic States then.
| THE WATER
That spoke of as running between north B and
north G streets, used to make down into China
slough. What have called China slough i;
marked on the map Willow slough" Tha.
is what I mean The map of 1854. as ap
( proved by the Common Cohncil. It has an
outlet sometimes into the American river.
[Witness here described the location of the
slough on the map.l After the water flow;
into the Willow slough, it empties into the
Sacramento back Of the railroad shops. Viii
low slough used be deep slough, now it is
nearly filled up with mud, sand and slickens
Redirect ito Mr.. Cadwalader)-Th min.
| ing I did was principally surface mining.
hydraulicked two years. however, at North
Bloomfield. was well acquainted with it
| up to that time. have seen the hydraulic
mines at Gold Run and Dutch Flat also, and
l recognized the sand. I'saw on my place
the same kind I saw in those mines.
have not been on John Rooney's land. ]
should think it is fully two miles from the
Sacramento city levees.
Q-Is it not fully FIVE miles from thii
| Courf.housa