No. 15 Original, Brief for the United States, 1929

Brief for the U.S., 1929, p. 206

206 ( freighted freiglited ) molasses , ( whiskey w1iiskey ) , and groceries up Red River before there were any railroads ; that it ( was ivas ) their business to sell to the ( farmers fariners ) , and they took ( "back back back ) cotton , cottonseed , and salt . They usually tied them up ( when -NvIien NvIien ) there was no ( freight fr'eiglit freiglit ) to carry . In very low water they ( had liad ) to sound the bottom frequently for bars , by sending a skiff out in front to take a sounding . In low water they went very slowly because ( if if- if ) they struck on a sand bar they might stay there a veek or a month . This did not occur very often . ( He 1Te ) had known of boats to be snagged and sunk . The llmmi Howell ( was -Nius Nius ) one such and the Clevis ( another anotlier ) . At the old ( Rowland Roivland ) ( laud- laud ) ing lie had seen as ( many n-iany niany ) as ( four fou-J fouJ ) big ( side-wheel sidewheel ) boats there at one time , some of which would take 1,700 bales of ( cotton cottou ) . They had a great deal more water in the seventies than they have now . Those large boats ( ran Tall ) then . ( "When When NNIhen ) the railroads were built the steamboats were put out of business for commercial purposes except an ( occasional occasioual ) ( cotton- cotton ) seed ( "boat boat boat ) . He saw one or two trading boats in , 1906 . He saw the Government dredge boat once or twice when it ( was -was was ) ( up -up up ) in this country . Red River had been considered a navigable stream only in the winter season . They could not compete ( with witli ) the railroads . It had been 20 years since ( he lie ) observed ( Ked Red ) River except to cross it at different points . . They could navigate some localities of it now by catching high ( water wateT ) , if they did not have the ( Tail- Tail ) roads . He saw one keel boat on Red River . . That was just a hull of an old boat that had been used . . It was at old ( Rowland Rowlaad ) . Keel boats were used in navigation before the invention of steamboats . They drew about 3 feet