OCR Text |
Show 41 River , in the territory of New Mexico , and ( appro- appro ) priating the waters of that stream for the purposes of irrigation . The bill averred that the building of the dam would interfere with navigation on the lower reaches of the river . The extent of the ( navi- navi ) gability of the River in New Mexico is set forth by this Court , at page 698 , in the following language : * * * The mere fact that logs , poles and rafts are floated down a ( stream strearn ) occasionally and in times of ( high-water highwater ) does not make it a navigable river . It was said in The Montello , 20 Wall . 430 , 439 , ( "that that ) those rivers must be regarded as public navigable rivers in law which are navigable in fact . And they are navigable in fact when they are used , or are susceptible of being used , in their ordinary condition , as highways for commerce , over which trade and travel are or may be ( con- con ) ducted in the customary modes of trade and travel on water . " And again ( p . 442 ) : ( "It It ) is not , however / ' as Chief Justice Shaw said , 21 Pickering 344 , ( "every every ) small creek in which a fishing skiff or gunning canoe can be made to float at high water which is deemed ( naviga naviga- naviga ) ble , but , in order to give it the character of a navigable stream , it must be generally and commonly useful to some purpose of trade or agriculture . " Obviously , the Rio Grande within the limits of New Mexico is not a stream over which in its ordinary condition trade and travel can be conducted in the customary modes of trade and travel on water . |