IRRIGATION FROM SAN JOAQUIN RIVER. 229 



In endeavoring to determine the amount of water appropriated on each of the 

 streams under consideration, seven large volumes of water claims and one volume of 

 the records of the board of supervisors of Fresno County had to be carefully gone 

 over and, as far as possible, the streams, branches, tributaries, and claims identified. 

 In many cases forks, bi-anches, and small tributaries were mentioned and water 

 claimed therefrom by persons whose names were unknown not only to the county 

 recorder and his deputies but to the county surveyor and his predecessors in office 

 and even to the "oldest inhabitant" of the region supposed to be the locality 

 specified. Again, in the wording of the claim no statement would be found as to 

 whether the stream on which water was claimed was a tributarv of the San Joaquin 

 or of some other river, and since the filing of the claim the name of the sti'eam 

 might have been changed once, if not oftener. The miners and irrigators in the 

 earlj- days gave fanciful and arbitrary' names to streams, gulches, and valleys, which 

 later were changed and in time forgotten. 



Another confusing feature was the fact that a great number of streams lx>re the 

 same name, as, for instance, a great favorite. Whisk}' Creek, and also Jackass Creek, 

 Bear Creek. Mill Creek, etc. Some of the streams bearing these names were tribu- 

 taries of the San Joaquin and others of Kings River. It was necessaiy to look up on 

 the map the section, township, and range in which the claim was located in order to 

 decide whether the stream named was a tributary of the San Joaquin or of some 

 other river. When, as was often the case, no section, township, or range was men- 

 tioned, it was practically impossible to locate the claim unless some natural object — 

 such as a ranch, bridge, or abandoned mine — was mentioned which happened to be 

 known by some person questioned b}- us. There were also numbers of claims on 

 streams which had at one time or another been tributaries of the San Joaquin, but 

 had since been diverted or had sunk into the sands to disappear Ijefore reaching the 

 main stream. It was necessary to look up these streams and ascertain by inquiry 

 whether any of their water, in times of flood, still reached the San Joaquin. 



Many tributaries of this river on which claims were located did not appear at all 

 on maps of the county, and could be "run down" only b\' close inquirj' among 

 miners, mountaineers, sheep men, and State forest or fish commissioners who were 

 familiar with the ground. Some claims on Minaret Creek had eluded our closest 

 scrutiny-, and we had about decided to pass them as not belonging to the San Joaquin, 

 when fortunateh' we met a fish commissioner who knew the locality and was able to 

 inform us that the creek in question was quite a bold stream and an undoubted 

 tributarj-. 



The ignorance of standards of measurement of flowing water, even in cases of 

 coi-poi-ations appropriating large amounts, was verj- evident and often disagreeably 

 prominent. Square inches and square feet of water were often claimed, as well as 

 "cubic inches" and "cubic feet'" under a 4-inch pressure; and the powers of transla- 

 tion of the writer in endeavoring to interpret the real meaning of the appropriator 

 were often severely taxed. Again, claims to immense quantities of water, ridicu- 

 loush' disproportionate to the means stated for diverting them, were a common 

 feature; and claims to "all the waters in the river" or to millions of miner's inches 

 were frequenth' encountered in the search of the records. 



It was found to be practically impossible, except in the cases of the few existing 



