AZ vs. CA:03 California Exhibits, Vol III; Nos. 114-150

page 16

-16- man I could find in Yuma, and applies to the River in its normal condition. During the season of deep water, in the months of June, July and August, the volume of water is vastly increased. For instance, at Yuma, the water scale at the bridge showed a depth of eighteen feet, which, I was told, was very low. I could see on the scale the point to which the water had risen, which indicated that it had attained a depth of twenty-seven feet, a rise of nine feet. I also talked with a Mr. Meedon and Mr. J. H. Godfrey, both old river-men, but now engaged in other pursuits, who gave me practically the same information as gathered from Captain Conradt. Mr. Godfrey, however, was a river-man in the days when the Colorado was the sole means of distribution of supplies from the outside world to Yuma and the surrounding country, said that he believed the River could be successfully navigated all the way to the mouth, provided proper vessels be used. He admitted the existence of all the difficulties mentioned by Captain Conradt and Mr. Meedon, but claimed that if there was business to justify it, there would be considerable navigation on the Colorado. He pointed out that the former transportation business, by means of the River, did not cease by reason of difficulties of navigation, but by reason of the construction of The Southern Pacific and The Santa Fe Railroads. These railways furnish means of obtaining supplies in a more direct manner than through the Gulf of California and the Colorado, and, naturally, the business went to their lines. So far as I could learn, there is not now, and never has been, a boat flying the Mexican flag on the River. Neither is there now, nor has there been for several years, any vessel plying on the River, South from Yuma. Oc-