James Andrew Murray.

About James Andrew Murray

James Andrew Murray was an Irish-born entrepreneur from County Clare, Ireland. He moved to Ontario, Canada with his family as young boy. As a young adult he travelled west to California during the Gold Rush days and then moved north to the Montana Territory. It was in the Montana Territories where he found success mining the streams near Pioneer, a small camp between Missoula and Helena. He parlayed his success in mining to build a business empire that stretched throughout the Western United States, He owned mines, banks, resorts, office buildings and water companies in Idaho, Washington State, Nevada, Arizona and California. The largest of the water companies was the Cuyamaca Water Company located in San Diego, California. Murray's operator, Ed Fletcher, named one of the man-made lakes in the system Lake Murray. Fletcher was rebuked for this decision as Murray was superstitious about naming dams after men.