Edward Thomas Purser was an interesting figure in the region’s history. Purser arrived in Lassen County in 1890, from his native Ireland where he had worked as a brewer for Guinness. Purser formed the Lassen Development Company, hoping to reclaim the sagebrush lands north and west of Wendel. Purser needed a water supply for his project. At the same time, numerous irrigation projects had been undertaken to bring water to these lands. The newly formed Eagle Lake Land & Irrigation Company had acquired rights to the Susan River watershed and to the waters of Eagle Lake. The Company needed financial capital to obtain their goals and Purser had the money and he needed the water. An agreement reached by the two and Purser loaned the Eagle Lake Land & Irrigation Company $36,000. In 1893, the Eagle Lake Land & Irrigation Company defaulted on Purser’s loan and Purser was awarded the Company’s Susan River Irrigation system and the water rights to Eagle Lake. Purser found a suitor for the irrigation system, namely the Associated Colonies of New York who had plans for a colony in the Honey Lake Valley that later became Standish. Purser still needed water for his Wendel property and he resurrected the Ward Lake project of the Balls Canyon Reservoir Company. By 1900, Purser had completely divested all his interest in the region and took up permanent residency in Sonoma County, California.