OCR Text |
Show title to the entire bed of 207 Red River ; Texas claimed the southerly half ; and the United States , which intervened in the action , disputed the claims of both States , , ( assert assert- assert ) ing full proprietorship of the southerly half and , in ( be- be ) half of certain Indian allottees , ( claiming1 claiming ) an interest in portions of the ( northerly noitherly ) half . We will confine our ( exam- exam ) ination of the case to those facts and statements of law which bear on the question of navigability . Apparently there was considerable evidence as to ( navi- navi ) gability which the Court did not feel inclined to accept at its face value . Speaking of the evidence on that question the Court says at pages 586-7 : ( "The The ) evidence bearing on this question is ( volum- volum ) inous and in some respects conflicting . A large part of it deals directly with the physical ( character character- character ) istics of the river , comes from informed sources and is well in point . A small part consists of statements found in early publications , and repeated in some later ones , to the effect that the river is navigable for great ( distances-some distancessome ) of them ( exceeding exceecting ) its en , tire length . These statements originated at a time when there were no reliable data on the subject , and ( ' ) subsequently accepted and repeated without I concern for their accuracy . Of course , they and their repetition must ( yield Vield ) to the actual situation as learned in recent years . The evidence also . discloses an occasional tendency to emphasize the exceptional conditions in times of ( temporary teinporary ) high wc ter and to disregard the ( ordinary ordimry ) conditions ( prevailing1 prevailing ) ( through through- through ) ¬ out the greater part of the year . With this ( explana explana- explana ) ¬ tory comment , we turn to the facts which we think the evidence establishes when it is all duly ( consid- consid ) ered . " With reference to the characteristics of the river in the western half of the State the Court concludes from the ( evi- evi ) dence that ( "only only ) for short intervals , when the rainfall is running ( off" off ) was there sufficient depth of water for ( "even even ) very small boats / ' such rises as would permit of the ( oper- oper ) ation of very small boats usually lasting only ( "from from ) one to seven days * ( 'and and and ) in the aggregate seldom cover as much as forty days in a year . " ( p . 587 . ) At page 588 the Court concludes its observations ( with Nvith ) reference to ( the tha ) river in the western half of the State with the following comment : |