Settlers also looked to the Bear River as an important source of water, and the river has had a profound effect on the history of Garland. Alexandre Toponce, a freighter, miner, cattleman, contractor, and promoter, purchased 52,000 acres of land from the Central Pacific Railroad Company for $1.25 an acre. In 1883 he took as a partner John W. Kerr, owner of a sheep herd, and they bought more land on the hills west and north of Garland for about 50 cents an acre, bringing their holdings up to 90,000 acres. Toponce and Kerr formed the Corinne Mill Canal and Stock Company. Settlers began arriving in the *Garfield area in the late 1880s and acquired land by purchasing it from the company, the railroad, or by homesteading. Toponce filed on the water rights of the Bear River, but was unsuccessful in developing a canal. In 1889 another promoter, John R. Bothwell of Kansas City, secured financing for a canal from Quaker societies in the British Isles. The contract to build the canal was given to William Garland of Kansas City and excavation began in September 1889 with about seven thousand men working on the project.