In July, Boswell sells a 20,000-acre ranch in the path of Phoenix growth to the Del E. Webb Development Company. The Corcoran Community Foundation is created in March to honor W.W. and his wife, Kate. The James G. Boswell Foundation opens the organization with a grant. Over the years, the foundation pumps millions into Corcoran. Many local farmers, including E. Clarence Salyer, are named trustees.
Some legislators grumble over federal ag subsidies paid to corporate farms.
W.W. Boswell dies after surgery in a San Mateo hospital. He was 77. Tempers flare between Boswell and Salyer forces in a confrontation over a levee on the Tule River channel. Salyer destroys the dam, moves in equipment and stations armed men at the levee. In Salyer's version, Fisher had shown up at the dam site drunk and unleashed a barrage of threats and profanities.