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


Cadwalader then asked him, Have not Won
lost your front land?' lie answered. 1.-THE
cultivable land down that way has decreased
| in the Pocket since 1861, but not on the banLr
of the river" He said that the farmers from
| Mrs Whitley's down to Freeport have mot
lost any of their front land. l will read a
few extracts frem the testimony Of this wit
ness on this subject:
90. by Mr.. Cadwalader (p. 9520)-You
know they have had more trouble from sipaee
water in the Pocket than in any other place
on the Sacramento river? A.-Yes; but it
was all caused by the backwster, or else we
would not have spent that SIC, 900 in trying to
keep it off," At p. 9542 he says 1t was
owing, since 1862, to the drainage canal and
so much water drained in on the back of us
| that we lost our back land. That is the ex-
PLANTATION l wished to make there-the drain
age canal and SO much water coming down
| Willow Slough
Question by Mr.. Cadwalader 10. 9543)-
| Haven't you lost your front land through
water that you have attempted to carry off
in drains from the base of the levee :! Answer
No, l do not think there has been a foot,
only what has caved sway on the outside
none on the bank of the river. They have
not lost any land. They can cultivate as
much as they could" In describing the ex-
| tent of the cultivatsble strip on the bank of
the river in that section, he said it was in
"some places twenty rods wide, forty in
others, fifty in others, and so on"
Question by Mr.. Cadwslader Up. 9547}-
Is not that strip of cultivstable land in that
Pocket reduced in the blowing or planting
season to about 100 rods in width! Answer
No more so than it always has been from
the time it was first taken up"
At page 9539, the witness said: !" As to
the condition of my land, when the river gets
up two or three feet on the levee, my orchard
is all right; if there is no back-water in the
tule l am all right. There is always high
water in the tule when there is high
water in the river, because it has rained
a good deal, and when it has rained
good deal there is going to be back
water in it, and we know 1t.
FIR. Cadwalader then said to him, You
have been nearly killed by sipage water"
And he answered, Back water. not sipage
water. can not see that we have any sipage
water when the river is up three feet on the
levees; that is, when the water is three
feet over the natural banks" He said, %
have said twenty times that l would rather
have the river break in on to my place than
to have the back water" Up. 95lS).
The Court here took a recess until 1850 P.
| NJ, and at that hour, on reconvening, Mr..
Catlin, in resuming his argument, said:
Connected with the subjects about which L
was speaking-the three principal grounds of
| the complaint and in fact the only three
grounds of the complaint, as the others may
| bs included within them, to wit: the alleged
injury to the navigation of the American and
Sacramento rivers, the alleged destruction of
agricultural lands and the alleged injury
to the public health of this city and
vicinity-is that subject referred to
in the complaint and in the testimony
as the drainage of this city. That, it is al
legged, has been destroyed, and, as a conse-
quence, naturally following il it were true,
ths creation of a permanent cause of disease
which otherwise would not exist. Now this
subject of drainage and the matters connected
with it, are worthy of consideration, because if
these things are true they are serious matters.
II the health of this city or OF this vicinity
has been or is affected, tits certainly serious
ground of complaint against the cause of it
and against the producers of that cause in
dividually as well as collectively.
HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN RIVER.
If we go back little in the history of the
American river, and its natural action as de-
veleped in this testimony, which, by the way,
is in general accord with what are matters
of public notoriety in this vicinity we find that
the American river, when left to itself, when
in the condition in which the plaintiffs wish
it to be restored, as it was in the days of lS49
80, and from that time up to the time when
mining began to make an impression upon it,
and when within its natural banks, it ap-
preached this city by very circuitous route.
flowing in broad, smooth and easy current
even during flood periods, as the DISORDERS of
its early condition say. 1t made three large
bends to the north and northwest of the city.
1t came, in nearly southerly course, directly
toward the city, striking our northern bound
airy at point known to fame in our early
history as Rabers Tannery then turning
with a sharp bend away to the west and
northwest, and coming back again, after
making two more bends, with a gentle curve
entered the Sacramento river at very OBJ
lioue angle near where the Pioneer mills now
are, 1t then flowed with gentle current in
its ordinary stages, and also IN ordinary Hood
stages. But whenever it over flowed its natural
banks, which was quite common occurrence
10 the early days, it took what was evidently
its ancient natural course, and passed down
through Burns slough across the eastern
part of the city, seeking an outlet in the
low LANDS Immediately below and from there
finding its way into the tule basin and into
the Sacramento river. There are many strik
ing evidences upon the face of the country, in
the eastern and southern portion OF the city,
that in times not very remote the American
river flowed in that direction and that the
channel OF 1S49 was of comparative modern
origin. Ia January and March, 1890, there
were floods here, at which time there was
considerable of a town or city here. There
are quite number of persons residing here
now who are capable of describing those
floods. Two of them, at least, and perhaps
Others described it. [ refer low to Mr.. Gal
laway and Mr.. Morse. They tell US that the
waters of the American came in through
Burns slough; that when the river rose
above its banks the water came from that
direction. The water did net come in from
the American anywhere else, and it did not
come in first from the Sacramento, but it
came in at that point and swept over the city.
We find that in 1852, when there was still
larger flood, it took the same course. After
that, however, the city authorities having in
the meantime seen the usual course which the
floods of the American river took, built
levee, as they supposed, strong enough
and they took within that levee much
of the northern part of the city.
They took in Smiths gardens and the lands
of several of the plaintiffs witnesses and
some others, intending to protect them all.
The levee ran up to Thirty first street, thence
along Thirty FIRST street to Burns slough
thence down Burr slough, leaving the slough
outside to its intersection with Il street, and
then down r street to the Sacramento river.
That was the protection then, and it served
measurably as a protection against the Amer
can for some eight or nine years. During all
this time. however, the southern part of the
city was flooded more or less every year from
the back water coming up from the tule basin
below. When the food of 1862 came, the
American river followed its ancient course
again. Instead of following this broad,
smooth and circuitous channel to the Sacra-
mentc, which would have necessarily slackened
its current and prevented particular injury
it took its old course 8gain and swept directly
across the city, depositing upon large por-
ton of the eastern part of this city above
where this Capitol stands a covering
of debris from two to three and four
feet deep. That covering of debris
improved the value of the lots.
Now, the city authorities. after the ex-
perience of these floods, and after the observa-
lions of some twelve years upon the action of
the Sacramento river and of the American
river, found that in order to protect the city
on the north they must adopt different
plan. They left out then the land lying be-
tween B street and the bank of the river;
Smiths gardens and other valuable property
were left outside
THE NORTH LEvEE.
The north levee was then built, running
up b street to about Twentieth, and then
terminating at high grounds
h. D.. citu