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Show ( Kwmon Kimizen ) Jones testified : 10 I went to what is now Bluff on the San Juan River in 1879 . ( R . 364 , Vol . 3 . ) ( I 1 ) have not traveled the river but have crossed ( ft it ) at different points . When we arrived at Bluff the river from there on down was confined in a comparatively permanent channel , with cane , willows and cottonwood trees along the banks . ( R . 366 , Vol . 3 . ) The banks of the stream were well defined at that time and the willows , trees and cane brakes along the banks had the appearance of age and stability . ( R . 395 ; 401 , Vol . 3 . ) In ordinary years there is just the regular high and low water , such as we have on all streams in the West . We do not average one big flood a year and there are many years when we have no big floods . The first big flood we experienced was in 1884 or 1886 , and the next flood was in 1895 or 1898 . ( R . 398-9 , Vol . 3 . ) Until the first flood came the channel of the river was confined between ( well-defined welldefined ) banks lined with old trees . After that flood the river returned practically to its original channel , but when the second flood came in 1898 the channel at Bluff ceased to be stable and fixed . ( R . 402-3 , Vol . 3 . ) From Chinle Creek to the ( mouth moiith ) of the San ( Jlian Xuan ) River , the course or channel of the river ( doesn't doesnt ) change ; there is little shifting of channel and it is stable . ( R . 400 , Vol . 3 . ) In picking out a place to ford a river ( 'one one ) usually selects a shallow place where there is a good ford . Where I have gone down to see it or cross it , I would say that the average depth of the water was from , two to four feet . I did not attempt to ford the river at high water , which occurs during the months of May and June . During that season no one except the Navajos attempt to cross the river either on foot or horseback . ( R . 407-8 , Vol . 3 . ) There is not a year since I have lived at Bluff when I have not crossed the river . Near Bluff there is a mile or two where the river spreads out and I have crossed this wide strip on horseback . When I first went to Bluff there was no such ( wide-spreading widespreading ) space . ( R . 411 , Vol . 3 . ) The minimum depth I have ever observed at any regular ford of the San Juan River I would say was about two feet . ( R . 414 , Vol . 3 . ) I have seen a hundred different boats on the San Juan River owned by different individuals ; a good many of them owned by myself and partners . ( R . 384 , Vol . 3 . ) ( I 1 ) used my boats to cross the river . I have seen one or two . small boats go up and down the San Juan River . The first of these came down from Farmington , New Mexico . They made it up |