OCR Text |
Show Record been on the Colorado River and used by Moab Garage Company for hauling some freight down to a man who was prospecting for oil below the town of Moab; the operation of the boat was attended by considerable difficulty and was in no sense commercial, and it lies today at the town of Moab without freight or susceptibility of use for any purpose. Mr. Blackmar stated the following reasons for the alleged absence of navigation upon these rivers; The San Juan River flows through a canyon along the sector 20 in controversy; at times the water is so low that it is possible to drive a team into the river bed; it has an average maximum flow of 22,500 second feet, at flood time running as high as 150,000 second feet; it is heavily loaded with silt; because of the nature of the surrounding country, the run- off of water is very rapid; at times there are sand waves on the river from 8 to 12 feet high. " There is no history of navigation upon that river whatsoever." Although from time to time they have tried to get around in skiffs and have used them for crossing the river, there has been no further navigation. During December, January and February the river is practically frozen over. 21 The Green River flows through certain canyons and extends through about 25 miles of open country near Green River, Utah, where there have been some attempts to irrigate, but most of such attempts are now abandoned. The Colorado River above Moab is little more than an canyon stream. From Moab to the mouth of the Green River, the Colorado River runs through a canyon and its channel, like that of the Green and San Juan Rivers, has no stability and no depth. In going down the river one day one may run upon a sand bar and the next day there will be no sand bar at that point. The Moab Garage Company frequently kept the paddle wheel of its boat running at night so that when they got ready to move out next morning they 22 would not be prevented by the accumulation of sand. all of the - 3- |