Legal Opinion

City of Lewiston v. Booth

Idaho Supreme Court

Decided November 28, 1893PublishedCited by 3 opinions

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APPEAL from District Court, Nez Perces County. This is an action by the city of Lewiston against the defendants, E. A. H. Booth and B. Booth. Said city is a municipal corporation, having the powers given it by its charter. The. defendants are the owners and operate a water ditch that flows-through the present limits of said city. Plaintiffs contention-is, that it has constructed a bridge across said ditch, at a point' within the limits of said city, and that the defendants, as owners of the ditch, are liable for, and must pay for, building the-bridge. Plaintiff had no warrant or authority…

1Opinion of the CourtMorgan, J.

(After Stating the Facts.) — At the time this ditch was constructed, E street, at the point of this crossing, was a county road. No one of the inhabitants could lawfully obstruct it, or render it dangerous to travel. The common law is, and was at that time, that where a person or corporation builds a ditch or canal across a public highway, this gives them no right to destroy it as a thoroughfare, but they are bound to restore or unite the highway at their own expense by some reasonably safe and convenient means of passage. This duty is founded on the principle that it was the act done in…

2Cases cited3 opinions

Eyler v. County CommissionersCourt of Appeals of Maryland · 1878
State ex rel. City of Minneapolis v. St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Co.Supreme Court of Minnesota · 1886
Heacock v. ShermanNew York Supreme Court · 1835

3Cited by3 opinions

Elzig v. BalesSupreme Court of Iowa · 1907
MacCammelly v. Pioneer Irrigation DistrictIdaho Supreme Court · 1909
State v. WilsonIdaho Court of Appeals · 2023