OCR Text |
Show no knowledge of any other method 15 of taking supplies to points down the river except overland . ( R . 608 , Vol . 4 . ) On two occasions I have seen the San Juan River dry . ( R . 615 , Vol . 4 . ) Along in August , the water gets down so low that is only 18 inches or 2 feet deep and you have to hunt a place to go in swimming . ( R . 617 , Vol . 4 . ) There are a good many rapids ( and -and and ) sand bars in the San Juan River , although I have never gone through it anywhere in a boat and base my judgment upon what I saw from the rim of the canyon . ( R . 621-3 , Vol . 4 . ) When I first came to the San Juan River ( about 1880 ) its banks ( were Nvere ) well defined and fringed with trees and willows and there was a very defined and readily discernible channel . You ( wouldn't wouldnt ) recognize that condition from seeing the manner in which the river is spread out at Bluff today . ( R . 643 , Vol . 4 . ) Since I first saw the river the timber has been cut down on the watersheds and numerous trails have been made which has contributed to a quick ( run-off runoff ) ( and -and and ) floods . Since that cutting occurred there is no underbrush and no blanket of leaves or trees , but only a smooth mountain side left , so that ( where vhere ) there used to be a forest with underbrush , pine , thistles and burrs that would hold the water back there is nothing to impede the ( run-off runoff ) . ( R . 649-50 , Vol . 4 . ) This cutting has extended clear over to Dolores and between Dolores and Mancos and the sawmills became active in this work when the D . & R . G . railroad was constructed in there a few years following my arrival on the San Juan . I saw those forests before they were cut and I have seen the places once occupied by them . ( R . 650 , Vol . 4 . ) The cutting has continued during the last thirty years , but I think that a large part of it ( was -was was ) done more than thirty years ago . ( R . 651 , Vol . 4 . ) John J . ( Lumnsden Lunnisden ) testified : I live in Grand Junction . In 1905 , 1 built a boat that was called the City of Moab ; it was about 50 feet long , 16 or 18 feet wide , had several cabins , and its draft according to my best recollection , was from 12 to 14 inches ; it had a marine gasoline engine and was designed to haul freight and passengers from Green River , Utah , down the Green River to its mouth and thence up the Colorado to Moab and return . There were about ten in the crew and we left Green River , Utah , with our supplies on board . ( R . 664-6 , Vol . 4 . ) The first day we got down pretty close to the mouth of the San Rafael and ran on to a sand bar , and after we got off that sand bar continued |