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Show Hyde- D 620 Q During the time of these floods is there a quantity of sand and sediment that comes down the river? A Yes, there is a very great deal of it, take the sand sections there, that is the country that lays from the base of the Chuckawala mountains through to the lime formation. Q Where are the Chuckswala mountains located? A Located principally in New Mexico, at Shiprock, that is what we call the Chuckawala or the Cheries (?); and flats from those mountains through to the San Juan river, and in some parts very nearly the Navajo mountains, over the Monumental valley it is red sandstone formation caps that section of the country where the cliffs are caving down, the natural erosion from frost and winds, and this drift sand off of the cliffs in the dry spells is blown into the washes; when these heavy rains come, that is all dumped into the San Juan river. I have seen it when it choked the river off entirely across. Q Where? A At Cottonwood, at Recapture, across between Montezuma and Bluff on the south side of the river; in all of them, in fact. Q What effect does this discharge of sand in the river have upon the river bed? I don't know what effect it has on the river bed; cobble rocks and stuff comes down in these discharges, and it will take the river some five or six days to clean it up and wash it out; 2588 |