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t- ..n l.;} (J I.~.,.> introduced in the U. S. Senate to incorporate the united States Freehold Land and Emigration Company and was signed into law on July 8, 1870, after considerable political manuvering. On July 14, 1870, the costilla Estate, which amounted to about 500,000 acres, was deeded to the company. The capital of the company was placed at $5,000,000, consisting of $2,500,000 in 25-year first mortgage 7 percent gold bonds and $2,500,000 in stock. After several months of negotiations, the Dutch banking firm, Wertheim and Gompertz, purchased $1,000,000 in company bonds for $500,000; and the company stock was divided among those who had assisted in the promotion. (~ 'I- A considerable amount of settlement had occurred in the grant by this time, and the company had not reckoned with the problem. Some of the residents had settled at the request and with the authority of Carlos Beaubien, though most had not received titles to the lands that they settled and claimed. In addition, a considerable number of settlers had simply squatted on the land. For over twenty years, the settlers had used the resources of the grant to graze their sheep and to cut firewood and building timbers. They also had used and claimed ownership to the best water supplies. Contrary to the fears of the settlers, the company did not begin ejection proceedings, but pursued a definitive settlement and offered to give quit claim deeds for the home tracts of the original settlers. The company refused to recognize any grazing or wood cutting rights or any rights of the squatters. Irrigation development began with the early settlers of the costilla Estate and continued until the entire normal stream flows were appropriated. The San Luis Peoples Ditch, which is located in the Culebra Creek watershed, was constructed in 1851. Construction of irrigation works on costilla Creek began in 1853. Attachment 2 is a compilation of direct flow ditches that diverted water from costilla Creek in the costilla-Garcia area and was pre- pared using the June 14, 1889, Colorado adjudication and the December 2, 1911, New Mexico adjudication. The Acequia Madre and the Manzanares Ditch, which were awarded 1853 and 1854 priority dates respectively, diverted water from costilla Creek in New Mexico and served lands in both Colorado and New Mexico. The Eastdale reservoir system was begun in 1890 by a group of Mormon pioneers. Water could be diverted from either costilla Creek or Culebra Creek into two off-channel reservoirs, which were constructed in the same draw, and used in the Eastdale area. The lower of the two reservoirs, Eastdale Reservoir No.1, could store water delivered from costilla Creek through Eastdale Canal No. 1 -4-