Los Angeles v. Los Angeles Etc. Co.

The plaintiff is a municipal corporation. Its corporate territory is situated on the Los Angeles River, an unnavigable stream which rises in the San Fernando Valley several miles above and northerly of the city and flows southerly until it reaches the northern corporate boundaries of the city. The defendant is the owner in fee of land on and riparian to said river and situated about ten miles above the city. The plaintiff claims, as successor of a Spanish and Mexican pueblo, the prior and paramount ownership of the use of the water of the river from its source to the city and from the surface…