Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-04-15

any gF5&E QiSLanC5 Dut tliat WHICH oiO pass
down the river, below Rocky Canyon, was
this fine material that came from the upper
washings, and that infinitely small proper
tion which is produced by the attrition Of
one rock with another. Bat this fine ma
terial altogether, in the Gold Run washings
of late years, is so small in amount compare
lively, that its presence cannot be detected
in this vicinity, and if it could be it would be
in such small degree that it would moi
amount TO an injury. l conclude, therefore,
that the proposition sought to be maintained
here, that this material has been, and will be
secured out every winter, is not established
but that, on the contrary, the evidence 1;
clear and convincing that the deposits be-
tween Rce's bridge and chickering's Bar are
permanently lodged there. and there is nc
reason to suppose they will ever be dislodged
OF course I do not speak with reference te
the effect that ages may have upon them.
NAVIGATION.
Now, what has been the fleet on the navi
CATION of the river? There is great deal Of
exaggeration and deal of distortion on tina,
point. 1 am not disposed to deny that at ar
early day the Sacramento river was compare
lively clear General Bidweil and others tel
US that the Sacramento itself was not az
clear as its sffiuents that the branches-tht
creeks that run into them-were clear, but
that the Sacramento always had murkJ
appearance. That was probably due to Its
long course through the alluvial plains above
It is said that the river here had an average
depth of not less than "a feet all the way
across in front of this city from 1S49 up to the
era when hydraulic mining commenced. Ii
was SO stated by Mr.. Hoag, who is repre-
sented as being reliable witness. | am not
disposed to dispute that he is q gentleman oil
candor and intelligence but shall have to
dispute the accuracy of his memory In re.
gard to his knowledge of the river between
1850 and 1860. He was proprietor of ferry
between the foot of | street and the town OF
Washington, and said that he had "a to &c
feet of water all the way across the river
from 1850 up to the time that the Sacramento
and Yolo bridge was built in 1857. Now, the
exact condition of this river in September,
1854, has been ascertained. The only sound
Jugs that were made in the early days were
made then, and the record of those soundings
has been preserved. I recollect, however,
that Mr.. Grunsky testified that in 1875
he, with Mr.. Hall, think, and some other
gentlemen connected with the State En-
gineer's Office, took some soundings in the
river during the food period, when the river
was 26 feet high on the K.street gauge. He
found 3S feet of water above the bridge,
but he could not state the depth of water be.
low the bridge. The soundings which were
made in 1854 were very thorough. They
were made in something like 400 places, com,
mencing at Y street and running to point
which was nearly mile above the then
mouth Of the American river, and which is
now at a point where the present Mouth Of
that river is-a distance of two and hall
miles; they extended up the American river
to point where Fourth street would inter.
sect that river. l assume it to be true that
in 1S49 the American river was "a feet deep
up as far as Fourth street, and that sea going
vessels went up there, and that the Sacra.
mento had the depth which the witnesses
for the plaintiff state that it had but
this chart of the soundings Of 1854 shows
that they held these depths but for short
time. The soundings in the American river
in this bed that is now extinct, taken at a
point abreast of Fourth street, where the
74-gun ship spoken of might have fioated in
1S49, show Depth commencing 20 feet from
the northern shore, of two feet. Further
along it was five feet and in the channel
eight feet; and then it rose toward its
southern shore to seven feet, and then to six
feet. The line of soundings ran diagonally
across the river, and was 460 feet long. (Mr.
SdIllu ucEc LII uc1aii W ShC ShoAe VI
soundiDgs, showing that the American river,
from its mouth up to a point intersected by
Fourth street, in September, 1854, had an
extreme depth in the channel of only nine
feet, and only of from two to five feet be.
tween the channel and the shores. He
also referred to the seundings in the
Sacramento from Y street up the river q
mile above the mouth of the American.
The lines of soundings ran directly across
the river at the foot of each street, and dag.
cnally across between the direct lines, the
direct lines being about $50 feet,
and the diagonal ones about 1,050 feet
in length. The soundings showed consider.
able shoaling in the channel, and extensive
shoalings on the sides near the banks en- the
Yolo side
Continuing, he said: l will now
come to the point where Mr.. Hoag's ferry
was, at the foot of I street and across the Sac.
ramento river. There they sounded directly
across the river, the distance being 730 feet.
Tney commenced on the Yolo shore and came
this way, and about twenty feet out. as near as
can Judge, they found fifteen feet.
Going out little further it was twelve feet
and then further out, about one-f fifth the dis
tance across the river, they found fifteen feet,
and then for width which, according to the
scale Of this chart, must have been about 80
feet, then fifteen, then eighteen; and
then coming up to the bank on this shore
they found eighteen and twelve feet, showing
that at that time there was large bar
in the middle Of the river, which
filed it quite half full, and over
which this ferry must have passed from
1854 to 1857. Undoubtedly the river was go
roily at that time that Mr.. Hoag could not
see the bottom, or he would have known of
the existence of that bar; but he tells us, in
the most confident manner and doubtless in
good faith, that he knew that the river had
twenty four feet of water all the way across
where his ferry was running there, and up to
1857. There is another thing to be observed
from the examination of these goundings.
They show that the Sacramento river. above
the point where the American river then
came into it, had changed considerably. But
it had not filled nearly as much above as it
had below; and that of course is reasonably
accounted for by the fact that the deposits
from the American river are found below,
while those above could only have come from
the Feather river, which emptles into the
Sacramento about eighteen or twenty miles
above. That was in 1854 There was no
food of any account in 1853 4, but there had
been big food in 1852 g.. The winter of
1854 was not what might be called food
year. We naturally inquire, where did these
deposits come from VINO were then engaged
in filling up the bed of the river: In 1923
the rainfall in Sacramento was SO &C inches,
heavier rainfall than there was in 1861 2,
when only 50 inches of rain fell. The winter
of 1S49 so gave VI SO inches of rain here.
Mining was extensively carried on at that
period. These Thousands of miners Cd the
rivers above US, among whom were Hoag,
Greenlaw, Taylor, Gwynn. with his 500
Cinnamon, and others of the complaining
witnesses, were turning up these bars of sand
and loosenirg the bottoms of the rivers as
they existed theD, so that the floods would
bring them down. 1t is evident now from
the most reliable testimony in the case, that
the food of 1852 deposited in the Sacramento
river here large amount of material, and
also nearly filled the American river. and
made them both unnavigable streams for all
purposes for which sea-going vessels could
use them. / think it is pertinent TO refer to
these things, as it is a branch of the case
strongly relied upon as ground for restrain
ing the operations of this defendant.
l have already alluded to the effect of the
food of 1872 That food undoubtedly, as
1 believe from the evidence in this case, was
the flood that made the most extensive de-
posits upon the lands along the banks of the
American river. And it was the food which
did the most substantial injury that has been
done to the navigation of the Sacramento
river. l do not deny but that subsequent
floods have added to those injuries. That of
1867 added some to il, but the principal