1. A grant by Pio Pico, the last Mexican Governor of California,
dated on the 10th of July, 1846, being after the conquest of the
country, adds nothing to the strength or justice of a claim set up
to the land by the grantee.
2. But it was the practice and usage of the Mexican government
in California to set apart for the use of the Indians small lots of
land appurtenant to the houses in which they lived around the
missions.
3. Where a person claims a lot under such a distribution among
the Indians of a mission, and shows that the grantee and his
assigns have lived upon it for a long time, the title ought to be
confirmed.
This was a claim for a tract of land lying near to the Mission
of San Luis Obispo, containing 300,000 square varas, or about fifty
acres of land, and called La Huerta de Romualdo. The claim was
based on a grant to one Romualdo, an Indian, by Pio Pico dated on
the 10th of July, 1846. But there was evidence to show that the
grantee and those claiming under him had been in possession from a
period long anterior to the date of the grant, and that he was put
in possession by the legal authorities of the country agreeably to
the customs and usages which prevailed concerning the distribution
of lots at the missions among the Indians, or "children of the
missions," as they are called by the Church. The special
circumstances connected with the grant of this tract to the Indian
Romualdo were detailed in the testimony of Bonilla, the alcalde of
the district, who declared that he acted under the express order of
the Governor Alvarado, that he placed the grantee in possession,
and that he kept a record of his acts, which was lost.
Page 66 U. S. 268
MR. JUSTICE NELSON.
The tract of land in dispute is situated at the Mission of San
Luis Obispo, called the Huerta de Romualdo, and is one thousand
varas in length and three hundred in breadth, containing some fifty
acres of land. Wilson, the claimant below, derived his claim from
an Indian by the name of Romualdo in 1846. In 1842, Governor
Alvarado directed Bonilla, the alcalde at the Mission of Obispo, to
distribute lands of the mission among the Indians residing there,
in separate parcels, as might be deemed proper, proportioning the
quantities according to the merits and abilities of each one,
putting them into possession immediately.
The alcalde, who is a witness on behalf of the claimants, states
that, under this order of the Governor, he distributed
Page 66 U. S. 269
lands contiguous to the mission, some two miles in length, and
at other different points about a mile, where these Indians had
their houses and gardens. The lands were given, as to quantity,
with regard to the number in the family, the maximum generally
being two hundred varas and the minimum one hundred.
The alcalde states that he did not set off to Romualdo the land
the claimed at the time, as the tract was of greater extension than
he gave the others, but that the Indian afterwards, in the same
year, brought a special order from the governor which directed him
to put Romualdo into the possession of the entire extension of the
"Huerta" on which he lived. The alcalde testifies to the
genuineness of this special order. He gave the possession to the
Indian accordingly. A record was kept of the distribution of these
lands in a book in his office, as well as the orders from the
governor, but this book was lost with all the archives of his
office in 1846, when the American troops passed through the
mission. Romualdo had worked for the governor, and his good conduct
was recommended in the special order for the distribution of his
Huerta to him. He was advanced in age, and had lived on this place
for many years, and had under cultivation, according to opinion of
the alcalde, a fourth of the land.
There is a grant of Pio Pico to the Indian of the same piece of
land dated 10 July, 1846, but this was after the conquest of the
country by this government, and adds nothing to the strength or
justice of the claim. The right stood before the commissioners
principally upon this grant of Pio Pico, and it was rejected for
the reason stated.
The further proof by Bonilla of the claim under Alvarado was
given before the district judge. The only evidence of this source
of claim before the commissioners was the certificate of Alvarado
and of Bonilla, which was properly regarded as incompetent and
inadmissible. The district judge confirmed the claim.
The title seems to be in conformity with the practice and usage
of the Mexican government in setting apart small tracts connected
with the huts or houses in which the Indians lived
Page 66 U. S. 270
around the missions and which were cultivated as gardens. In the
present instance, the possession and cultivation were of
considerable duration, and according to the testimony of the
alcalde, the distribution and assignment of the governor was
intended to be permanent, as a home to the occupant. The claim
appears to be an honest one, unaccompanied with suspicion, and
under the circumstances we think was properly confirmed.
It comes within the principle of the case of
United
States v. De Haro's Heirs, 22 How. 293
As there is some question as to the extent of the claim, the
petitioners setting up a right to a much larger tract than stated
in the evidence in the case that belonged to Romualdo, and as the
confirmation also is a confirmation to Wilson, the petitioner, we
shall modify the decree of the court below so as to confirm the
claim as if presented in the name of the original claimant to him
and his legal representatives, and further that the judge of the
court below may direct a survey of the claim if applied for by the
government.
With these modifications the decree below is
affirmed.
