Improvement

Improvement of Cypress Bayou Approved June 10, 1872, March 3, 1873

Improvement of Cypress Bayou Approved June 10, 1872, March 3, 1873 Part Two

IMPROVEMENT OF CYPRESS BAYOU AND CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS AND DREDGING AT THE FOOT OF SODA LAKE, TEXAS.

This work, authorized by act of Congress approved March 3, 1873. is an extension of that commenced under act approved June 10, 1872 appropriating $10,000 for "the improvement of Cypress Bayou, near Jefferson, Texas."

For report, I divide the work into two parts, as it can best be treated in that way.

I. IMPROVEMENT OF CYPRESS BAYOU.

Cypress Bayou proper is a small stream passing Jefferson, Texas, and debouching into the head of Fairy Lake, and is thence connected with Red River by a chain of lakes generally known as the Soda Lakes.

The work of improvement during the past year has been confined to the bayou. It has consisted in dredging bars, widening and straightening the low-water bed of the stream, removing snags, logs, and stumps from the bed, and protruding logs and overhanging trees from the banks. Incidental to this work there have been made extensive repair's to the machinery employed.

For details, reference is made to the following report of the overseer in charge :

DREDGE-BOAT, Cypress Bayou, Texas,

June 30,1874.

Sir : In obedience to instructions contained in your letter of May 19, 1874, I have the honor to submit the following report of operations for the improvement of navigation of Cypress Bayou, Texas, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1874.

During the month of July the dredge was lying at the wharf, city of Jefferson, Texas, waiting the arrival of the hoisting-drum and machinery ordered of Messrs. Atkins & Burgess, of Chicago, to replace the one broken in June. The engines, machinery, &c., were overhauled, repaired, and put in proper condition for wont. А new swinging-circle was made for the head of the mast and put on ; the crane was r«paired and put in order, and such other repairs about the boat as were considered were made, the work being done by the crew of the dredge.

The new hoisting-drum ordered from Chicago did not arrive until July 21.

The unfinished condition in which the drum and castings were received from the makers caused a delay of several days in fitting them so that they would work. the dredging was not commenced till July 29.

It was the original intention to complete dredging the channel from Boon's Bend, the city wharf, a distance of about three miles. The distance was not quite two-third dredged when the season of high-water came on and made it necessary to discontinue work or move the dredge on the bayou to the more shallow places, which was done according to instructions received from the late Lieut. E. A. Woodruff.

At the time of the breaking of the hoisting-drum, in June, the dredge was at work a short distance below the city wharf, on a shallow point or bar.

During the interval of waiting the arrival of the new drum from Chicago the water had fallen so much that it was impossible to get the dredge back down the bayou to resume operations where the work had been interrupted by the high water without dredging a portion of the way to that place, the dredge drawing 5 1/2 feet, and at places there was only 3 1/2 to 4 feet of water in the channel. Under these circumstances it was deemed advisable to complete dredging the channel in the vicinity of the wharf. Considerable dredging was necessary to make a good and permanent channel to the lower end of the wharf, on account of the bayou being very shallow and having a bend in it. requiring a dredging of two cuts, or double the usual width the most of the distance, so that boats in making the bend would have sufficient room and water to do so with very little trouble.

On the evening of the 29th of August the hoisting-drum was again broken. Another one was immediately ordered from Chicago by telegraph.

The new drum was ordered to be made much heavier and stronger than the one previously furnished, and to be warranted to stand one year without breaking, which the makers agreed to do, and to be ready for shipment in ten days from date of receiving tin' order. Owing to the yellow-fever epidemic at Shreveport, La., and the establishment of a rigid quarantine on all the lines of communication to this place, the arrival of the second hoisting-drum was delayed until October 27. On receiving it on board it was got into position and dredging resumed as soon as possible.

While waiting for the drum the crew of the dredge were employed in making repairs and improvements on the boat, overhauling the engines and machinery, rebabbitting the journals or boxes of the engine-shaft, and shafts of the hoisting and swinging drums.

A new boom was made and put in the crane, a new swinging-chain was put up, the siphon repaired and new pipe put in, also pipes put up connecting the boiler with the feed-pump pipes to be used as a heater to prevent the pipes from freezing up. A new smoke-stack was made and put over the forge ; a flat-boat was built for carrying wood from the bank to the dredge ; and, among other repairs, a tin roof has been put on the cabin.

By the middle of December the channel, from the first deep water below the city to the lower end of the wharf, was completed, and the dredge moved down the bayou to the shallow point above the railroad-landing, a distance of about three-quarter» of a mile from the city, and the dredging out of this place commenced.

During the time the dredging of the channel in the vicinity of the wharf was being done. teams and laborers were employed to remove from the bank of the bayou some 7,000 cubic yards of excavated earth to prevent its being washed back into the bayou during the high-water season.

The earth removed was about two-thirds of the quantity excavated, and that only that had been thrown out on the right-hand bank while dredging up-stream. Before the whole of the earth could be removed the water rose, covering the greater portion it that remaining.

Having completed dredging the channel between Boon's Bend and the city, the dredge was taken down the bayou some eighteen or twenty miles to the Benton Cut-offs.

There are two cut-offs at Benton. Work was commenced on the lower one, it being the shortest, and, by dredging a channel from 100 to 100 yards in length, cut off about a mile of very difficult navigation.

The upper cut-off is considerably longer, and saves following the channel of the bayou for about the same distance as the lower cut-off.

By the time I had finished dredging the short cut-off, which was in the latter part of March, the high-water made it impossible to continue the work any longer. The probability of the water remaining high for a considerable time decided me to take the dredge back to Jefferson and have the engines and the machinery overhauled and repaired, the decks and sides of boat calked and pitched, and the new crane-machinery, new dipper, and new chains that had been ordered, and were in Jefferson, put into position. The old dipper and chains were badly worn and broken.'

In order to disconnect the old dipper and put the new one in its proper place, it was necessary to have the dredge by the side of the wharf or some high bank, as they weigh about 4,000 pounds each, and would be awkward to manage and get into place without the proper facilities for doing so.

During the high-water season, which lasted about eight weeks, the dredge was kept lying at the wharf and undergoing thorough repairs, the crew doing the work.

The new hoisting and new arm chains were put on, and everything about the boat was put in as good condition as possible, ready to resume operations as soon as the stage of the water would permit.

The water did not recede to the ordinary stage, or within the channel proper, till about the 1st of June. On the 8th of June I started from Jefferson with the dredge. down the bayou, for-what is known as "Dorherty's Defeat," about four mile below Smithland. Here the banks are low, and the bayou spreads out over the country for some distance, and is quite shallow in many places, and makes a number of short bends. There are also many stumps along the channel and in the shallow places that give much trouble to boats, especially in the low-water season.

That portion of this bayou called " Dorherty's Defeat" is from one-half to three-fourth of a mile in length, but the whole distance is not low water, only in places.

By dredging a channel through the low-water portions and cutting off several short points or bars, thereby making the bayou straighter, and removing the stumps from the channel, the navigation will be materially improved.

After finishing the work at this place, (Dorherty's Defeat,) which will require two months time, or more, the next place of any importance in the bayou, between Jefferson and its mouth, requiring dredging is the upper Benton Cut-offs.

considered it better to complete the work of dredging the channel of the bayou the dredge worked toward the lakes.

My reasons for passing over Dorherty's Defeat, when taking the dredge below late February, was, the water was then too high to work to advantage and to be able to find and remove all the stumps.

To cut a channel across the upper cut-off at Benton will take considerable dredging, as the distance is more than twice that of the cut-off already dredged.

Upon completion of the work at Benton no more dredging in the bayou will be necessary, at least for some time, that I am aware of.

However, there are some places in the bayou where the channel will fill up in a much shorter time than in others on account of the light sandy nature of the soil and the peculiar shape of the stream, and, mу opinion, it will be found necessary to dredge out these localities every year or two.

If the excavated earth could have been deposited at a greater distance from the edge of the bank it would have prevented the filling of the channel as soon as otherwise.

The navigation of the bayou will be comparatively easy at the ordinary low stages of the water for steamboats of the class usually running upon these streams.

Judging from what I have seen and learned regarding the work required in the lake, especially in the vicinity of the Bois d'Arc Passes and the Blind Bayou, in the upper end of Fairy Lake, I am of the opinion that navigation could be greatly improved by working the dredge there, in straightening the channel, and taking the stumps out. which are the principal obstructions to be removed. As for the length of time that would be required to do the work at these places, I could not say.

In the mouth of February 1,000 pounds of nitroglycerine was purchased for the purpose of blowing up and removing stumps and logs that are in the bottom of the channel, and are found to be too large and heavy for the dredge to get out without the risk. of breakage of machinery and loss of time. From the experiments I have made with it, and the benefit derived from its use in the work of removing the Red River Kan there is no doubting its efficacy, and I am confident the use of nitroglycerine in removing these large cypress stumps and logs will be of great advantage to the work :is the breakage of machinery in pulling these stumps has caused serious delays.

The following statement shows the amount of excavations made each mouth the dredge was in operation :

During the months of July, September, and October the dredge was not at work on account of breakage of hoisting-drums ; and during the mouths of April, May, and , part of June, work was suspended by reason of high water.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

FrANK W. GEE

Capt. C.W. HowELL.

Corps of Engineers, U. S. A.

IL CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS AND DREDGING AT FOOT OF SODA LAKE.

In his report of April 29, 1872, which was a preliminary report on a survey of Cypress Bayou, and made before the operations of the survey were fully completed, Lieutenant Woodruff recommended the construction of certain dams, at the foot of Soda Lake, to confine the low-water discharge at that point to a single narrow channel or chute. The appropriation of March 3, it is believed, was based on this recommendation.

In his final report on the survey, (page G69, Report of Chief of Engineers for 1873,) Lieutenant Woodruff states that the supposition on which he based his first recommendation he afterward found to be entirely incorrect, and recommends the substitution of a lock and dam for the dams previously projected. In submitting this report to the Chief of Engineers, I stated that I was not prepared to indorse the plan and had directed further investigation. This investigation Lieutenant Woodruff was directed to make during the season of extreme low-water in the tall of 1873. Preparations for the work had been made, and it is presumed that the visit to Shreveport, resulting in his death, was made by Lieutenant Woodruff with the intention of proceeding with the examination. Finding himself in the midst of an epidemic ; unable to get assistants; having been exposed to disease; and unwilling to risk carrying that disease among his employees at work on Red River raft, he did what was proper, prudent, and humane, though his action cost him his life. His death suspended the investigation directed, and it was late in December, 1873, before a party could be placed in the field to make it.

In December, Mr. II. A. Leavitt, assistant engineer, was employed to make the survey, the field-work of which was completed March 10,1874. The work was plotted, and Mr. Leavitt's report, with plans and estimates, available at the close of May. It was then too late in the season to commence work on the plan suggested, even had the amount of appropriation available warranted.

Pending investigation and survey above reported, it was proposed, in place of dredging at the foot of Soda Lake, to remove stumps and logs from the channel through the foot of the lake, and Lieutenant Woodruff was instructed to avail himself of the first favorable stage of water for doing this work. For the reasons stated above, the favorable season of 1873 was lost and the project abandoned for the year.

With the light we now have it must appear well that money has not been expended on either of the three projects named above.

It is now possible for me to submit a definite plan for the improvement desired, and in doing so I will first present a description of the navigation from Jefferson to Shreveport, and afterward a discussion of the several plans for improvement that have been considered.

DESCRIPTION.

Jefferson, Texas, is at the head of navigation in Cypress Bayou. From that point down to the head of Fairy Lake, a distance of twenty-seven miles, the Bayou, at low-water, is narrow, tortuous, and before improved was shallow and greatly obstructed by timber. Fairy Lake, from its bead for about half its length, is thickly studded with cypress-trees, stumps, and fallen timber, through which the old channel of Cypress Bayou may yet be traced at low-water, and this, if cleared of logs and stumps, would afford low-water navigation of about 2 feet.

In high-water this channel is partly followed by steamboats, and partly avoided by use of what are known as " cut-roads." The lower half of the lake affords a navigation of over 6 feet.

At its foot the lake enters the valley of Red River between bluffs but 1,480 yards apart. At this point it meets the whole discharge from Red River that is made by the latter through breaks in its western bank between Hurricane Bluff (directly opposite the foot of the lake) and Blanton's Landing, twenty-two miles above.

January l, 1872, when at Albany Point, the water-surface was 6 feet above extreme low-water; the surface, at this point was found ±3 feet below the surface of Jefferson, (twenty-five miles distant in a straight: line, 38 feet below the surface of Red River at I> hut ton's Landing, (twenty-two miles distant,) and 11 feet below that at the nearest point on Red River, (five miles distant^

The great body of water concentrated at this point finds vent through Willow Pass into Soda Lake, giving the pass a depth of from 20 to 00 feet, but at its foot, where the water spreads into Soda Lake, forming a bar having over it only a depth of about - feet at low water. Through the lake there is a depth of from 3 to 3 feet, and at its foot a wide shoal. known as Albany Flats, with a depth of but 1 foot at extreme low water.

This lake forms a settling-basin for the Red River water drawn through: it. The slope of its water-surface at the date before stated was but L1 inches to the mile. It is gradually filling up with Red River deposit.

Below Albany Point the old channel of Cypress Bayou is well defined, and affords good low water navigation through the upper portion of Cross Lake, Twelve-mile Bayou, and Red River, to Shreveport.

At Albany Point, January 1, 1872, the, surface of the water was 6.3 feet below the surface in Red River at the nearest point, 2.3 miles distant. At the head of Twelve-mile Bayou the water-surface was 2.8 feet below Red River opposite, a distance of 704 yards.

The fall from Albany Point to Shreveport was 11.8 feet ; from Red River, opposite Albany Point, to Shreveport, 18.1 feet.

From this it appears that the foot of Fairy Lake is the center of a basin, having Red River on one, side and the line of bluffs to the west of it on the other. [This is better shown by the chart enclosed, marked

(A)-]

The raft in Red River, along the eastern rim of this basin, deflected the greater portion of the river-discharge above the raft into the basin. thus converting what before the advent of the raft was a cypress-swamp, with a sluggish, unnavigable stream flowing through it, into a series of lakes, affording good navigation for the greater portion of each year.

It is feared on the part of the commerce interested that the removal of the raft will immediately effect a shortening of the season for this navigation, and perhaps ultimately return it to its original condition.

It is too early to determine if such fear be well grounded.

It is desirable at present to obtain a 3 foot low-water navigation through Shreveport to Jefferson ; this is probably as much as will ever be required. To obtain this the following plans have been considered :

1st. Dredging.

2d. Wing-dams at Albany Point.

3d. A lock and dam at Albany Point

4th. A tumbling or other dam at Albany Point, with a cut into Red River.

6th. A dam across Willow Pass, at the foot of Shirt-tail Lake, and the re-opening of Irishman's Bayou.

6th. A dam in Cross Lake and Twelve-mile Bayou, with a cut from near the head of this bayou to Red River.

The following consideration of these several plans is submitted.

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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operation to remove obstacles from the Red River in Louisiana, 1873]: Pl. 17 - crane boat at work [removing dead tree]

DREDGING.

Beginning at Albany Point, on a straight Hue through Soda Lake, the distance to deep water in Willow Pass is about eight miles ; over this line the depth at low-water varies from 1 to 5 feet. This is the line that apparently should be adopted for a dredged channel through the lake, for the reason that, except through a very short portion of the lake, (about one-quarter its length,) the old channel of Cypress Bayou has been obliterated by deposit, while that portion that may yet be traced is so narrow and tortuous that it would require widening and straightening by dredging to put it in good condition.

Dredging on the straight line indicated, to obtain a 3-foot channel, would require excavation to a depth of about 2 feet for one mile over Albany Flats, and excavation of about 1 foot, for the same distance, at the foot of Willow Pass ; a total excavation of about 3.5,200 cubic yards for a channel 60 feet wide.

The excavation would run through the remains of a Cypress Swamp, and would consequently be very expensive. Further, it has been shown by the surveys made that Soda Lake is the main settling-basin for the Ked .River water passing through it.

The deposit in this lake has been so great as to entirely cover the knees of the cypress yet standing in the lake, while in the other lakes these knees are yet uncovered.

The depth of such deposit was not ascertained, nor is it known for how long a time it has been forming, but the covering of cypress-knees indicates a thickness of several feet, and the living trees at points in the lake show it to be a very recent formation. The inference is that since the cause of deposit does and will continue, any dredged channel through the lake must sooner or later be silted up. If, then, dredging be resorted to, the depth should be made considerably greater than actually necessary for the time being, in order to avoid annual dredging to keep the channel open.

I assume, therefore, that the depth of a dredged channel through Soda Lake should be G feet at extreme low-water; this would make an average dredging of about 2 feet, sixty feet wide, for a distance of eight miles, equal 563,200 cubic yards of excavation. This, of itself, appears sufficient to condemn dredging, but when there is added to it the dredging that would have to be done in the upper end of Fairy Lake and across the bar at the present mouth of Cypress Bayou, it is clear some other plan of improvement should be considered.

WING-DAMS AT ALBANY POINT.

This was Woodruffs first recommendation. He afterward found that the chutes he proposed to close with dams were so nearly dry at low-water that but little, if any, concentration of low-water discharge would be effected by the dams, and that consequently they would be of little or no use in holding the last stages of a flood in Soda Lake to prolong navigation through it.

LOCK AND DAM AT ALBANY POINT.

This was recommended by Lieutenant Woodruff in his final report of survey of Cypress Bayou, and the plan was well calculated to give at all seasons a depth of 11 feet from Albany Point to Jefferson. Having doubts of its low-water effects below Albany Point, I have awaited the results of the further survey ordered before considering the project.

The survey of Mr. Leavitt, besides disclosing difficulties of foundation not anticipated by Lieutenant Woodruff, shows that without the inter position of a second lock and dam between the first and Shreveport. is low-water the bayou and lake below Albany Point, for a distance of nearly 6 miles, would run dry. This is best shown in section on Leavitt's chart herewith, (marked B.)

The first lock would require a lift of 10 feet, the second a lift of 13 feet, at low-water of 1873 at Shreveport, to make 3-foot low-water navigation from that point to Jefferson.

The walls and gates of the locks would have to be 26 feet high in order not to be overtopped at a stage of water equal to the high-water of 1866, the highest of which we have record.

In view of the above, the project was rejected, and it was not considered necessary to make detailed plans and estimates for it.

DAM AT ALBANY POINT AND CUT INTO RED RIVER OPPOSITE.

Woodruff's survey showed the whole fall from Jefferson to Albany Point to be but 3.5 feet at a time when there was 4-foot navigation on: Albany Flats. Of this fall, 2.3 feet was from Jefferson to the head of Fairy Lake. The lake was a level; from the foot of the lake to Albany Point the fall was 1.2 feet.

By placing directly across the water-way at Albany Point a dam having its crest 14 feet below the local high-water mark of 1866, that will be given over Albany Flats a depth of about 6.5 feet, whence. than' the above, it is evident there will be given to the foot of Fairy Lake.) least depth of 5.3 feet, and from thence to Jefferson a least depth of ' feet throughout the year.

It is considered that the latter depths will be greater than stated; the reason that the slopes reported will not probably be very greatly diminished ; also, no allowance is made for the dredging from Jefferson to the head of Fairy Lake, a distance in which the greater fall occur for the reason that it is anticipated that the dredged places will fill in j few years.

For perfect safety the figures are based on a level from Albany Point to Jefferson.

As such dam. while answering the purpose of giving good navigation above it to Jefferson, would effectually cut off the navigation below from that above, it would be worse than useless, except a new connection be made with Red River. A cut to Red River from a point above the dam is therefore necessary as a portion of the project.

The difference in level of water-surface between Soda Lake at Albany Point and of Red River (opposite) at Gold Point renders such connection practicable without lowering the surface created by the dam, as shown by the following:

Our surveys indicate the, fact that during all seasons of the year the surface of the lake at Albany Point is lower than the surface of the river opposite at Gold Point, viz, at high-water of 1866, when there was between 19 and 20 feet over Albany Flats, the lake-surface was 2.33 ft: below that of the river.

In 1872, with 4 feet over the flats, it was 6.3 feet below; and in 1867. with between 2 and 21/2 feet over the flats, it was 3.8 feet below.

Although no observation was made to determine the difference of level at extreme low-water, viz, when there is but one foot of water over the flats, it is assumed that this difference is probably not less than 2 feet- in as much as the measurements given were all made before the removal of the raft.

Under this assumption the proposed dam and cut should give at all seasons of the year 3 feet navigation over Albany Flats, a sufficient depth for the present, since the river below Shreveport only affords a depth of 20 inches during low-water; and it is not the local trade between Shreveport and Jefferson that is to be served by improvement, but the trade between the Mississippi River and Jefferson.

Besides the improved navigation it is designed to give above Shreveport, this project presents another subject for consideration.

It is claimed that in case the removal of the raft should prove to effect a shortening of navigation through the Soda Lakes, it will also shorten the season below Shreveport.

This is on the supposition that the lakes serve as reservoirs to detain floods of Upper lied River, so that they are longer in passing Shreveport than they would be if these reservoirs did not exist. If this be true, then the reservoirs are useful in lengthening the season of navigation below them.

The plan of a dam and cut at Albany Point appears to present the means not only for preventing any possible deterioration of these lakes as reservoirs, but also a probable means for increasing their efficiency.

In connection with this three plans for a dam have been considered, and these require notice.

1st. A tumbling dam, having its crest 14 feet below the local high- water mark of 1866. This is the one so far assumed for illustration, and the one called for if navigation above it is alone to be considered.

In this case there is but one objection to it, and that may be overcome by a suitable construction. The objection is this: The character of the foundation offered for a tumbling dam is not favorable to permanence of the structure, the soil being of an easily abraded mixture of sand and clay, with strata of sand at intervals. During low-water the bed of the lake at the foot of the dam will be dry, while just above, on Albany Flats, there will be from 3 to 0 feet.

At the commencement of a rise, when the water begins to flow over the dam, the fall over the several portions of the length of the dam will range from zero to 15 feet. It will afterward be some time before the lake below fills sufficiently to afford a useful water-cushion to break this fall. At extreme high-water the surface of the upper lake will be from 10 to 14 feet above the crest of the dam, and the lake below will probably be filled to nearly the same level; during the intermediate stages we must expect powerful eddies about the foot of the dam.

These facts suggest difficulties of construction which may certainly be overcome, but at great expense, and by taking every precaution to have workmen and material on hand so as to begin and complete the work in a single low-water season, the length of which may only be safely assumed at 4 mouths, and those 4 months the most unhealthy of the year.

If we further look to this dam as a means for increasing the efficiency of the Soda Lakes as reservoirs, then it must appear too low to have any appreciable effect, for it has been shown that during all except the lower stages, water must run from Red River to the lake rather than from the lake to the river, while after the lake has fallen to the crest of the dam, and further discharge must be into the river, the possible fall of three feet, taken in connection with the area of the lake, indicates such a small volume of discharge that it does not nee«! figures to prove it of no value below Shreveport.

2nd.. A dam from Albany Point to the bank of Red River, having its crest 2 feet above the high-water of 1866, on Red River..

As the first plan of dam is the minimum allowable for improved navigation, so this plan appears to offer a maximum for reservoir effect.

It would throw the whole of the lake discharge into Red River through a channel which (following its meanderings) would he 7.6 mile longer between Albany Point and Shreveport than the present route via Twelve-mile Bayou, and 9.1 miles longer than the route via Cross Bayou.

This difference in length would necessarily retard the emptying of the reservoir, but on the other hand we should lose an important portion of the present effect of Lower Cross Lake. The latter would then be only a reservoir in proportion as the water was ponded back in to it: from Shreveport, whereas now it holds a large volume of the flood-water received through the Soda Lakes, for a time after the latter have well run out. This is evidenced by Leavitt's survey, and a section display' on his chart, where it is shown that the water-surface in the neck between Upper and Lower Cross Lake was 3 feet above the surface on Twelve-mile Bayou, 540 feet distant, and the same above Red River. just above.

It is questionable if the gain on the one hand would not be balanced by the loss on the other.

There is another and more serious objection to the plan, viz: IV river between the dam and Shreveport has not the capacity to cam the volume to be added from the lakes, and to give it the capacity won:<¡ require radical changes in its bed, involving the destruction of many plantations.

These two considerations condemn the plan of a high dam.

3d. A dam across the foot of Soda Lake, having its crest of the height of No. 2 ; the crest between the lake and river to be depressed to 9 feet below the high-water of 1866.

This is a compromise between the 1st and 2d, and while offering the advantages possessed by both, permits the filling of Cross Lake by direct overflow, and it is thought will not seriously affect the plantations along the river bank.

This is the plan recommended in my communication of May 1, (remitted to the Chief of Engineers in answer to the inquiries of the chairman of sub-committee of House of Representatives on rivers and harbors

It is the plan I recommend for adoption on two conditions, viz:

1st. That the money required to carry it out be all appropriated before the work is commenced.

2d. That the commerce to be benefited be found to warrant expenditure. Of this I do not pretend to judge.

The other two plans considered call for but brief mention.

5th. The fall from Red River, through Irishman's Bayou, to the foot of Fairy Lake, January 1, 1872, was 11 feet. It is evident that crossing the head of Soda Lake, Willow Pass, passing around the of Shift-Tail Lake, and connecting with the bank of Irishman's Bay might be constructed the same as at Albany Point, and to answer same purposes.

The length of the dam. as indicated on Woodruff's chart, and great height, due to the depth of Willow Pass, together with the labor of reopening Irishman's Bayou, which is filled with raft, shoal, ' and tortuous, condemns the project, further by cutting oft" the settling basin afforded by Soda Lake, a great deposit would be induced above the dam, making in a short time, it is anticipated, a second Albany