it was too similar to Alviso. He granted a right of way to the California Southern Railroad Company and even traveled to England to "encourage 'gentleman farmers' to come to El Toro to raise oranges and walnuts." The Surf Line was extended through the area in 1888, connecting Los Angeles to San Diego via Orange County. By 1932, citrus and other fruit trees were the main crops in El Toro, irrigated by wells sunk into the shallow groundwater basins along Aliso creek. For similar reasons, Don Juan Avila sold the Rancho Niguel in 1865 to John Forster, and the property was eventually purchased by Lewis Moulton and Jean Pierre Daguerre in 1895. Daguerre was one of many Basque immigrants who arrived in this part of Orange County starting in the 1870s, introducing sheep ranching and crops of bean and barley to the area. Moulton and Daguerre purchased parts of adjoining ranches, bringing the total size of the property to . The ranch remained under their ownership for approximately thirty-eight years, and the Moulton family continued to own it until the 1960s. Cattle and sheep ranching and dryland farming continued on Rancho Niguel until the mid-20th century. Urbanization and development In 1927 Laguna Beach became the first city to be incorporated in the Aliso Creek watershed and the second in Orange County. Wells were drilled into the stream bed near its mouth and water was piped to homes in Laguna Beach. However, in 1928 the Aliso Creek supply was discontinued due to "the undesirable quality of the water" caused by high chloride levels. The idea of using uncontaminated surface water from Aliso Creek was also considered, but this would require the construction of a large storage reservoir. In 1934, an A. J. Stead proposed to build a dam just above the mouth of the creek to store and provide a firm annual yield of of water. Lewis Moulton filed a lawsuit as the reservoir would flood part of the Rancho Niguel, but the dam project was upheld in a hearing in 1936. However, this dam was never built. With the exception of the farming community of El Toro, the rest of the watershed remained largely unpopulated into the 1950s. In the 1950s, Rancho Niguel was sold off to real estate developers to build the planned cities of Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, and Laguna Hills, with an undeveloped portion to the south