182 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



be made thereto, and about 50 acres of land at the head of the ditch; * * * and also all land 

 occupied by said ditch and brancheis; and also the strip of land on each side thereof reserved for the 

 purpose of said ditch in the several bequests herebefore made to my wife and children; all to be held 

 by them or the survivors of them in trust, however, for the following purposes: 



( 1 ) To hold and retain said ditch, with all the rights, privileges, and appurtenances pertaining 

 thereto, and all the land held in connection therewith, so long as said trustees or survivors of them 

 shall live. 



(2) To keep said ditch and branches in good repair and fit for service, and make such extensions 

 and additions as rnay seem best. 



(3) To collect all the rents and profits for the sales of water or otherwise, and from the money so 

 received pay all expenses for repairs, additions, and extensions, and a reasonable compensation for the 

 care and management of said property; and pay over the balance, if any, to my wife during her life, 

 and after her death the net income to be divided annually into five shares, one share to be paid to 

 each of my ch'ldren living, or if dead, then to their descendants. In no case shall any debt be con- 

 tracted in said property which shall exceed the receipts from it. 



10. Ina-smuch as the said William Wall and James Moore are minors, * * * I hereby appoint 

 my wife to manage and control said property so long as she may live, and at her death * * * that 

 my son Robert Moore shall manage and control said property until the trustees first named shall have 

 each arrived at majority. * * * 



11. Upon the death of said trustees and survivors of them, all the property herein bequeathed to 

 them in trust shall be sold and the proceeds divided into five parts. One for each of my children, and 

 in ease of death of any one or more of my said children, then the descendants of such deceased shall 

 take the share. * * * 



Thus, with a strange mingling of faith in the enterprise, which for more than a 

 quarter of a century had claimed his time and strength, and of misguided love for 

 his offspring, did this strong-willed old man entail on his two innocent grandchildren 

 the burden which he now laid down. 



In 1886 the permanent dam was washed away. Hampered and hedged about by 

 the provisions and limitations of this strange bequest, the trustees have found them- 

 selves unable to replace the dam or make other much-needed repairs. They have 

 not been able to operate the ditch to the satisfaction of either themselves, the heirs, 

 or the water users. During all these forty-four years since James Moore first began 

 his ditch, nearl}- half a centurj-, the waters of Cache Creek have been going to waste, 

 and for all this outla}' of energj' and trea.sure there is nothing to show but these 

 voluminous court records and one mismanaged ditch, iri'igating in an ineffectual, 

 unreliable waj' from 5,000 to 7,000 acres per annum out of a possible 40,000 to 50,000 

 acres that the natural flow of this stream should water and make fruitful. The 

 phj'sical difficulties to overcome are insignificant. Time after time energy and 

 capital have brushed these aside only to find themselves involved in a maze of endless 

 litigation which leads nowhere and settles nothing. 



In 1864 the Clear Lake Company built a dam and mill at Lower Lake on Cache 

 Creek a short distance below the outlet of Clear Lake. This dam interfered with 

 the How at the outlet and was so operated that in times of high water the town of 

 Upper Lake and all the lowlands adjacent to the lake were inundated. Kemonstrance 

 proving unavailing, the assistance of the Lake County court was invoked. When 

 the ciiso came to trial, tradition reports that the presiding judge, whose sympathies 

 were evidently with the sufferers, decided that this court could furnish no legal remedj' 

 for the dilHculties complained of. In rendering this decision, while commenting on 

 the ca.se, the judge intimated that there was a law "higher than statute or procedure 



