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Show pleasure parties , hunting 59 , prospectors , etc . Blake has completely abandoned all river transportation , because ( he lie ) found it unprofitable and unpractical . Abs . R . , Vol . 2 , pp . 1339 , 5208 , 5220-5222 . ) In the year 1925 , the Moab Garage constructed a ( flat-bottomed flatbottomed ) barge . ( Abs . R . , vol . 1 , p . 308 . ) The boat was constructed for the purpose ( , . ) of ( per- per ) forming a transportation contract which the Moab Garage Company had with the Midwest Exploration Company to transport certain ( oil-drilling oildrilling ) supplies from the town of Thompson on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad to the ( Company's Companys ) drilling sites ( on' on ) the Colorado River below Moab , Utah . ( Abs . R . , vol . 1 , p . 258 . ) The Garage contract provided a rate of 1.75 per 100 pounds from Thompson to Well No . 1 . The distance from Thompson to the dock at Moab was approximately 34 miles by wagon road , and the contract contemplated a transportation rate from Thompson to the river bank by truck at the rate of 50 cents per 100 pounds . That allowed 1.25 per 100 pounds for the 18 miles of water transportation . The barge cost approximately 7,000 . Later there was a readjustment of the rates of transportation to oil wells farther down the river . The barge was operated almost exclusively by the witness , Virgil Baldwin . ( Abs . R . , vol . 1 , p . 311 . ) The operation of the barge was attended by many difficulties on account of the constant rearrangement of sand bars ( Abs . R ( , . ) , vol . 1 , p . 308 ) , and this was especially true when no trips had been made for several days . When this occurred it ( was'difficult wasdifficult ) to |