Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-11-16


When first went to the mines l crossed the
American river at the Norris ranch. The
Sacramento below the American was clear,
as clear as the American both were clear,
there was not any difference. In the fall of
1850 I changed my ferry-landing from street
to j and point opposite. In digging down
to make landing on the Yolo side, we found
the water twenty feet deep at low water, and
from the low-water mark to tie top of the
bark it was twenty feet I ran the ferry
there until abou. 1858 1, until the bridge was
started. The ferry was run after that.
Mr.. Catlin-The bridge charter was made
in 1857.
Witness-In 1857? I sold out my interest.
Il was run after that. / noticed no change
in the water while I ran the ferry. I sold
out my interest in the summer of 1858, [
think My interest in the ferry parted
with, think, in 1854, certainly not later
than that. but some of my family held an
interest in the ferry up to the time the bridge
was chartered. went on the ferry often.
however. Since then I've crossed the river
nearly every day. I've noticed the water
change and grow more muddy in both rivers
the American the most. The change in it
has been gradual, but more rapidly during
the last five or six years-from six to eight
years 1t has changed to a reddish-muddy,
or yellowish-muddy, color from clear. In
the Sacramento river the water is always
clearer on the Yolo than on the Sacramento
side-beth places being below the mouth
of the American. .The waters of the
American and Sacramento do not mix
of once, and the American river water
flows mostly on the Sacramento eide,
and the line of separation can often be seen,
especially at the draw in the railroad bridge.
The further the waters go the more thev
mix. Don't know how far we have to 60 to
see complete mixture. In winter the
American river water is more red, and that
of the Sacramento is darker, bluer-more the
natural color Of water. We all know the
Washington people have clearer water than
the Sacramento people. There is more mud
in the American river water than in the Sac.
ramento river water. After the curve of the
American was cut of the waters of the two
rivers mixed more. Now the mouth of the
American river is almost at right.
angles to the Sacramento. When the
American is high, compared to the
Sacramento, it pushes its muddy water
further over. But when the Sacramento is
higher, it pushes the American water further
down stream before mixing. The water in
the Sacramento river, above the American,
ID much clearer, even than in the Sacra-
mento, on the Yolo side. In high water, the
American river overhows into the Sacra-
mento river some three miles above its own
mouth. 1t muddies the Sacramento then,
all that way up, but above it the Sacramento
Is clearer. When the water all comes out of
the natural mouth of the American, then the
distinguishing line is very clearly marked.
While l have been here the old American
river mouth has been filed completely up
with sand. From the old mouth up to the
present current, it is all filed with sediment,
all done by the wash of the water, and this,
although much has been hauled out to fill up
the city. The old curve is filed nearly as
high as the adjoining land. The fill is yellow
sediment. We call it slickens. In fixing
dates, | am always deficient; as to circum-
stances my memory is good. The cutting, TO
change the course of the American river, was
made during the administration of Judge Swift
as City Trustee. Since the change, the old
curve has all been filled in. think, from the
old curve, where the change of curreut began,
to the present mouth, the distance is
less than mile, but I never measured
it. That would make the old channel longer
than the new channel, as it was in fact. The
beginning of the cut to the old mouth. The
fill is sediment The original soil Of the
banks of both rivers was black clay and
rich loan; q species of adobe. Now, the
fill is q light Shiny muck. When wet it
is slippery /; when dry it cracks as deep down
as you can see, apparently eight or ten feet
deep, and six inches wide. All adobe soils
crack from wet to dry seasons, but not so
large cracks. The sediment cracks are pc
culiar to it alone. In and along the bed Of
the rivers l have seen them gradually fill up.
l first noticed the filling some six to ten years
ago. The filling up is By this sediment, and
some sand, the predominating soil being 0
Shiny sediment. Where 1 fixed depth of
the American river at thirty feet, at low
water in the Sacramento now there is four or
five feet of this sediment above water. The
American river is filling up with sediment as
far as can see looking up from the Sacra.
mento river, as l pass up and down it to my
ranch. 1t is filled up very nearly even with
it's banks. This sediment covers the soil
between the two rivers to considerable
depth, raising it soma feet. but l can't
fix it. I've seen the sand.bars, but
don't know their depth. Below the
new mouth Of the American the Sacra.
mento river was originally as deep as between
the Sacramento and Washington shores.
Ships used to come up that river. They
came from 40 to '52-3. Large vessels were
in those days moored at Sacramento-barks
and large sea-going vessels. Can't fix the
date when they ceased coming. Where the
Sacramento on the Yolo side was 20 feet deep,
with 20-foot banks, it was little less il
depth just opposite on the Sacramento side.
There was but very little difference in the
depth sill the way across where L ran my
ferry. The turn of the current made it
deeper on the Yolo side. The river is not SO
straight between Washington and Sacra-
mento as it was in the early years. A spit of
sand has put out, and the bank protrudes into
the river in fact on the Yolo side at low
Yolo side, the river-bed has filled up fully 50
feet. No bluff bank is to be found there
now, at all. Where the current changes to
the other side, like filling is found opposite
it, and SO on, down the stream. Now, the
American coming in and hitting the Yolo
side, bounds back to the Sacramento side,
and so the channel is there. From the orig
inal bank the spit of sand on the Yolo side
referred to is about 100 feet wide, along the
Yolo shore. Think the river is about ]. coo
feet wide. From the top of the spit of sedi-
ment to the top of the bank, where the levees
are, is now but four or FIVE feet, but we can
hardly now fix a point where the original
banks were In building levees, we have OBJ
liberated them. The Sacramento has also
filed up up to the Feather. Above Fremont
the water is clear. Recently I've been down
the Sacramento river some twelve miles.
The changes are the same as here;
filed up very much. The vessels
I saw come up in 1851 couldn't
come here now; poats nave 10 De DullG very
shallow to get up here now. The filling up
of the rivers, have noticed, has increased
tie depth Of the waters in inundations. We
had no levees in Washington in 1851, and 3.
Now we have levees eight or nine feet above
the original soil, and last winter the water
ran over the levees nearly all the way, clear
up to Fremont. So it did two years. ago run
over levees seven or eight feet above the
natural soil. Levees were first built at WASH
ington and along both sides of the river, as a
general system, under the Swamp Land Act.
Mr. Hart-Il 1868.
Witness-Yes. We had small levees before
that, one to two feet perhaps. none more
than three feet. Neighbors built them. In
the winter of 1872, in as heavy food as
we have ever had, the river flowed through
Washington; but in ordinary seasons the
river carried all its waters. Each year we
increased our levees. Since the beds began to
fill the system of leveeing has been made
business before that they were thrown up
with shovel; now as a rule we build wall
with 60 feet of base. In ordinary high water
now the natural banks, as seen in
1851, would not hold the river.
With but small rise the water
now goes above the natural banks.
Last winter, when the water in the Sacra.