Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-01-04
DEBRIS.
THIRTY-sscoND DAY OF TIE sLIcKENs
CASE Is COURT.
Testimony for the Defense of Miners,
Farmers, Surveyors, and Ditch
superintendents

NAiniuS Ooiupduy-WaS reSumeu AT S.oV a. M
yesterday. in Department Two of the Supe
rior Court, Judge Jackson Temple presiding
| Judge James Galloway called and sworr
for the defense. Direct examination (by A.
p. Catlin)-I arrived in Sacramento about
the 1st of September, 1S49. 1 remained bu,
a few days at that time. Ionly came at thai
| time to get supplies. located here about
| the 1st Of November, 1S49. 1 first lived on
! l. street Of this city. In January, 1850,
ran hotel and was also in the wood bust
ness. In the early part of January, 1850,
the food commenced to rise. The water
first entered the city from the American
river. 1t came down through the slough. II
came from northeasterly direction across
the city. The last place covered by the
| waters of the food was the levee. l had
some sick folks in my house. 1 had them
moved to the Methodist Church, some.
where on Sixth street. made a raft,
on which l poled out my goods and
wares. I moved them onto a mound some
where near the present site Of the Court.
house. The church was afterwards destroyed
by the waters, and the sick folks were moved
from there to bark on the river. I was
boating for several days, and assisted great
many families to escape to the island and
high lands. boated over nearly every por.
tion of the city. The waters were from to
10 feet deep. The waters were shallow near
the river and deeper near the center of the
city. Here witness was shown lthograph
| L I'll 10 nit A 81
uged state during the food Of January, 1850
| Witness said that it was a very fair repre-
sentation. The island that was out OF water
for scme time was on / street. l left here
on the Sth of February; | left this city for
| Marysvile; afterwards went to French Cor.
raj and Downieville. When first saw the
Sacramento river it was clear as crystal. Dur
ing the food it was quite muddy.
Cross-sxamination (by Attorney.G General
Hart)-Tbe houses were back from the river
from so to 100 feet. The levee in 1850 was
very slight. From below the Suffer House
up to where the Pioneer Mills are located
the banks had been graded down, but 10
levee bad been built. The floors in the
buildings in those days were not as high SIS
those built at present First class hotels in
those days had no h,or. except the earth.
Tue ceilings of the buildings were not built
as high as they are now. don't remember
the tents that are shown in the front of the
city. / think the picture, in many respects,
is an exsggeration. Opposite the barge
Selma, where the bank was as high as most
| feet and a half deep. Suffers Hotel was
below street. think it was between
J and K. There was but one place
that was not under water, and that was
near where the public square is located
now. That place, or mound, had evidently
been made by the Indians. I was on
that spot for three or four days. 1t was
round and highest in the middle. The
highest portion of the island was about three
or four feet above water. / cannot say what
the depth of water was in any particular
street, from the fact that the streets at that
time were not improved. They were not
graded aud were full of holes. remained
in the mountains for great many years. i
have been living in Sacramento city for the
last five or six years. L think that j street
was covered with water for several days.
When the water began to fall it vent down
| very rapid. TIE AEerieaD river rose fret
| and fell fir5e.
/! Re-direcs Ito Mr.. Catlin) = The frame
houses generally had floors. i think the pict.
ure ven present here is little colored that
| is. the buildings are made to look larger and
| more substantial than they really were. The
| island I spoke Of had an area Of not mora
than half an acre.
| Horatio l.. Martin sworn. Direct examin-
alton TO Mr.. Catlin) My profession is that
| of surveyor. At present | am ranching on
| the lands of the Natoma Company l have
made a survey of the mining excavations on
the north bank of Alder creek for distance
of three miles from its mouth. / made this
survey within the last two weeks. Witness
presented map m aue by himself of that sur
vey.1 measured all the 'fferent pits. Each
pit is marked with the number of cubic yards
excava.ed. The total amount of all the pits
in the section surveyed is 2.465, 712 cubic
wards. These excavations are ali on the
north and east side of the creek. The exca.
va,ions Oh the south ard west side. should
Judge from observation. is about one sixth as
much. The soil in this section is reddish
sandy soil. The pits are Of different depths.
Ths average depth of the largest excavations
extent is gravelly. The stones vary from
two inches to six inches in diameter and
are of the shape commonly called cobble.
stone. 1 made survey on the premises Of J.
B. Taylor. His placs is on the old Coloma
70 ID, about mile and a half from the Hang.
town crossing in section %. The surface OF
the ground at Taylor's place is forty three
feet above the surface Of the water in the
American river. The well at that place was
rty -four feet deep and had depth of seven
teen feet of water. The surface of the water
10 tn It we'll is fifteen feet above the surface Of
the water in the river. The water 10 the river
now is higher than it usually is during the low
stage of water in the summer season. l should
| iudye about three feet higher. The surface
of the ground at the Fifteen-Miie House is 81
feet above the level of the river at the poin,
opposite Taylor's The Fifteen-Alile HOUSE
is pretty nearly two miles from Taylor's. in 6
sou.heasterly direction. Buffalo creak is
north and east of Mr.. Tsvlor's place, aud i:
several miles in length. The Natoma Com
pany irrigate 225 acres Of vineyard. This
water is brought by the Nstoma canal from
the South Fork of the American river, about
two miles above Salmon Falls. The land
eas. of Taylor's, along the line ol
the railroad, rises gradually-I shoulc
saw about ten feet to the nile
saw tie bedrock there in many places
don't know what kind of formation the bed
rock ia. have brought here some specimens
of quartz that / selected from tailings at the
dump piles from Lawsoh's claim, just above
the bridge at Folsom also some from the
dun of the Portuguese rpine, on the north
side of the river, opposite Lawson's claim.
also have some that took from Alder Greek
Hill Some of them are from the natura
surface anil some frsm the mining dumps
Also some from place between Mr.. Tay lor I
and the Fifteen-mile House. The latter
picked up from the surface. Witness ex
hibited the samples
Cross-examined 10y Mr.. Cadwalader)-1
am ranching for myself on the Natoma Water
and Mining Company's land. lease the
land from them. / made these surveys at the
instance of Mr.. Catlin. Some of the pitt
that I have included in my estimate Of the
Alder creek surveys were washed partly iutc
the American river. I have been in that sec.
tion of the country for only two years. dc
not know how much of this material washed
into Alder creek remains in its bed. l dc
not know the grade of Alder creek / neve
took any levels of it. l should Judge that il
has fall of two feet to the mile. was NOT
instructed to get the level of the creek or the
depsh of its filling. l have heard folks say
that the creek bed is filled up in its channel
from twenty-five to seventy-6ve feet deep.
These pits are all pretty well filled with
cobble. / have made an estimate of the
amount of cobble there is remaining, and
have deducted it from the total excavations.
The length of ny survey from the mouth OF
Alder creek along its bank is about two miles
and half. The average width of the creek
| is about $50 feet. At the railroad
bridge it is about 100 feet wide.
The Natoma ditch below Alder creek has no
regular grade. When made the surveys at
Taylor's place the river was about the same
stage as it is at present. do not know
whether there is any running water In Buff