Plot

At the beginning of the Civil War, Benjamin Eaton brings his upper-class bride, Alice, to live in California. She is thrown into the rough life of Los Angeles, with its lawlessness and other dangers. The devastating drought of 1862 tries Ben and Alice's pioneer spirit, and forms the background of their amazing true story. With the help of Ben's Southern-minded brother-in-law, Br. John S.Griffin, and wealthy business partner, Mr. Don Benito Wilson, they find a way to build the first zanja — water system — to bring water out of the Arroyo Seco. How that happened is this story...