Flooding the Courtrooms: Law and Water in the Far WestThis legal biography of the California cattle company Miller & Lux illuminates the relationship between law, economic change, and the distribution of wealth and power. It examines law in an environment undergoing rapid development, where the rules governing resources, especially water, were in contention. From the 1870s through the 1930s, Miller & Lux looked to the law to mediate its place amid change. This entailed the hiring of corporate counsel, a new concept for late-nineteenth-century America, and the creative development and use of new legal doctrines. The actions of its lawyers and managers and those of the opponents and judges it faced reveal the complex, dialectical interplay between legal and economic power. Impressively researched from a labyrinth of primary source, Flooding the Courtrooms is an absorbing history of Miller & Lux and its influence in the shaping of the West. |
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix | 1 |
Chapter | 10 |
Chapter | 39 |
Chapter Three | 67 |
Chapter Four | 95 |
Chapter Five | 119 |
Chapter | 146 |
Conclusion | 174 |
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Common terms and phrases
accepted acres action allowed Appeal appropriation argued argument asserted attorney August Barnes benefit bill Brief California canal company carton cattle challenged charged claims Clyne company's continued contract cost County customers December decision demand directors diversion doctrine earlier economic efforts eminent domain engineer fact Farmer February federal filed firm firm's flow forced Fresno granted Haggin Harding History ibid increase interests Irrigation Company Irrigation District issue James Judge July June Kern land later limited litigation Lux Papers Lux's Madera Canal March Miller & Lux natural needed Nickel November October owners problems proposed protect ranches rates reasonable reform rejected Report reservoir riparian rights River ruling San Joaquin September served Short side SJ&KRC&ICo Southern California Stanislaus County Stevinson storage district suit supreme court Treadwell users Valley water commission water rights West Woolley
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Bibliographic information
| Title | Flooding the Courtrooms: Law and Water in the Far West Volume 4 of Law in the American West |
| Author | Mary Catherine Miller |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | U of Nebraska Press, 1993 |
| ISBN | 0803231539, 9780803231535 |
| Length | 255 pages |
| Subjects | › Law / Environmental |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |