McShan

Appellees own land which at one time bordered on the east bank of the Colorado River. The river has since shifted to the west, and appellees claim the land now lying between their property and the present river bed on the basis of acere *463 tion. Appellants dispute that claim; and they have attempted to prove that the change in the river bed was perceptible and sudden, it having been agreed that accretion occurs only upon a gradual and imperceptible shifting of a river. See State of Oklahoma v. State of Texas, 1923, 280 U.S. 606 , 43 S.Ct. 221 , 67 L.Ed. 428 ; State of Nebraska v. State of Iowa, 1892, 143 U.S. 359 , 12 S.Ct. 396 , 36 L.Ed. 186 . Appellants have deeds to certain of the lands which the river passed over in its westward migration and can trace title to said lands stemming from a United States patent to the State of California. Appellees, citizens of the State of Arizona, brought this action against the appellants, citizens of California, in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, praying that said court enter a decree declaring them to be the owners of and quieting their title to the lands now lying between theirs and the Colorado River, and…