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Show 137 and Colorado rivers at every accessible place from Bluff to Lees Ferry , crossing them in various places . . In going up or down the San Juan River in boats or rafts I never had any particular trouble or difficulty and never got stuck on sand bars . Where I worked along the river there ( weren't werent ) any sand bars to speak of . I did some rafting on the river . . ( R . 4538-9 , Vol . 26 . ) Where I have forded the river with horses the water has come up above their bellies and at times the horses swam the river , I remember the year when the river was dry , and , aside from that year , I never saw any point on the stream where the water was less than 150 or 200 feet wide and it was that narrow only at places where it was confined between canyon walls . ( R . 4541-3 , Vol . 26 . ) It is my opinion that the San Juan River , wherever I have seen it , is adapted to the use of boats carrying two or three tons of supplies up and downstream . ( R . 4544-6 , Vol . 26 . ) We never worked any dirt that went less than 10.00 a cubic yard ; some went 22.00 a cubic yard , and there were even richer pockets . Our mining operations were profitable ; it was flour gold and the main practical ( diffi- diffi ) culty was lack of hydraulic or heavy machinery to handle the dirt . ( R . 4547-8 , Vol . 26 . ) I never boated on the Colorado River except to ferry across . ( R . 4550 , Vol . 26 . ) At ( Zahn's Zahns ) Camp I would go up and down the river to get wood ; sometimes I would row , at other times pole and sail upstream ; I never had to tow . Our supplies came ( over- over ) land . ( R . 4566-7 , Vol . 26 . ) ( While Mile ) at Gable Camp I had a team and wagon and preferred to go to Bluff for supplies in that manner than to take a boat upstream . ( R . ( 4583-4 45S3-4 45S34 ) , Vol . 26 . . ) C . L . ( Christensen Christemen ) testified : I lived in Bluff from 1890 to 1896 , and acted as Indian interpreter during that time . For a time I clerked in a store . About 1893 , ( I 1 ) took a skiff 16 feet long and 18 feet wide , loaded with about 2000 pounds of supplies , from Bluff to Rincon . On that trip I encountered sand waves for three or four hundred yards , but had no other difficulty . Later , I took another skiff load of supplies from Bluff to Rincon . I spent two months at Rincon and , during that time saw a raft containing about 5000 feet of lumber pass on down the river in charge of a party that was operating down at Gable Camp . ( R . 4586-9 , Vol . 26 . ) For nineteen or ( twenty-one twentyone ) days I worked at Mendenhall |