USA > California > Contra Costa County > History of Contra Costa County, California, including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description; together with a record of the Mexican grants also, incidents of pioneer life; and biographical sketches of early and prominent settlers and representative men > Part 38
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When this claim was before the District Court upon petition for con- firmation, the testimony of José de Jesus, son of Ignacio Martinez, was
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taken. Being asked what he knew in regard to the boundaries of the tract, the witness stated that on the north it was bounded by the Rancho of Ig- nacio Martinez, father of the witness, called El Pinole; that the original map (diseño) was made by him in 1841, and that it was correct ; that it was the original map presented by Doña M. M. Valencia to the Governor when she petitioned for the land, and that he made it for that purpose; and that when he made it the houses, corral and garden were on the Rancho as rep- resented on the map. The witness further stated that he became acquainted with the boundaries of La Boca by going over the land with a son of Mrs. Briones for the purpose of making the map; that he had lived on his father's Rancho since April, 1830, and ridden over the La Boca Rancho " thousands of times," and that he was well acquainted with everything con- nected with it. (Exhibit 58, Blum, from archives in Surveyor-General's office.)
From the foregoing I conclude that the La Boca Rancho was not within the boundaries of El Pinole as established by the Governor's grant in 1842, the first official definition of the exterior boundaries of that place. And taking the facts above stated in connection with the testimony of William Richardson, (vol. 5, 245, Evidence), C. Briones, and Napoleon B. Smith, (vol. 4, pp. 561 and 720, Evidence), delivered to the Board in the case of EI Pinole, and the location of the tract called Corral de Galindo, and the Cuchilla de Chemisal, as laid down on the connected map hereinbefore men- tioned and on the official map of Mr. Minto's survey, it would appear that the northern patented line of La Boca very nearly represents the calls of the grant and decree in the Pinole case for Pinole's southern exterior bound- ary in this locality. It follows, therefore, that La Boca was not surplus (sobrante) of El Pinole, and as the District Court decreed the claim of Mrs. Briones to be good and valid to the land known by the name of " La Boca de la Cañada del Pinole " to the extent of three square leagues "within the boundaries so described in the grant and map on file in the records," and as the grant and diseño call for Acalanes and Pinole for boundaries, and as Acalanes calls for Pinole as one of its boundaries, it necessarily follows, from the situation of these several grants, that La Boca was not surplus of any of the five grants mentioned in the grant to the Castros of 1841, the presump- tion of law being that La Boca was located within the boundaries called for in the decree of confirmation.
Again, La Boca was not vacant land in 1841, within the meaning of the decree of confirmation in the sobrante case. The evidence in the case of the La Boca upon petition for confirmation, as well as that of José de Jesus Martinez, hereinbefore referred to, and that of Peralta in his report, show a continued occupancy and possession from about 1831 till long after April, 1841, by the Briones family, the widow continuing in occupancy and pos- session after the death of her husband, and that the land was improved by
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them as alleged in the petitions therefor of 1839 and 1842. It was the very land occupied and in the possession of her husband that Mrs. Briones petitioned for, and it makes no difference whether it is called La Boca de la Cañada del Pinole, San Felipe, or Corral de Galindo.
In the opinion of the Board in that case, it was stated that the deposi- tions on file showed a long residence on the land by the grantee, and estab- lished very clearly a substantial compliance with the conditions of the grant, and that the only obstacle to confirmation was to be found in the proof of boundaries. The decree of the Board rejecting the claim was reversed by the District Court, and the claim was decreed to be good and valid, and it has been surveyed and patented accordingly.
It was manifestly against the policy of the Mexican Government to grant lands to one party that were improved and in possession of another; and petitions were referred to the proper magistrate for the purpose of ascertain- ing whether they called for lands occupied by others. In the very matter of the petition of Martinez it is seen that, although he asked for land by the name of a place that might have embraced the establishment of Briones, and Briones had no grant from the Government, yet the possession of Bri- ones was recognized as well as that of Martinez, and the land possessed by him was carefully excluded from the grant to Martinez.
Now, as the Governor recognized and protected the possession of Briones; as that possession was continued by his widow, and was of the same land; as proceedings were pending before the Government for a grant of this land at the time of the grant to the Castros ; as upon the death of Briones the claim for the grant was continued in the name of his widow, she alleg- ing the possession that had continued since 1831 ; and as the grant to the widow was made in view of all the proceedings mentioned, and necessarily in consideration of the uninterrupted possession of the Briones family since 1831, it follows that the possession was not a trespass. The presumption is that the final survey followed the decree of confirmation ; that it em- braces the quantity of land thus possessed as limited in the decree ; that it correctly shows the boundaries thereof, and that the land was surveyed within the boundaries mentioned in the decree; and, as the possession which continued from 1831 was not a trespass, it extended to the bounda- ries of the claim as surveyed and patented ; all of which results in this conclusion : That in 1841 the land surveyed as the Rancho La Boca de la Cañada del Pinole was not vacant.
Finally, it seems to me that the Mexican authorities, having jurisdiction in the premises, decided, in 1842, that the land known as La Boca de la Cañada del Pinole was not embraced within any former grant. The refer- ence of the petition of Mrs. Briones to the auxiliary Judge of Contra Costa required him to report whether " the land referred to belonged to any indi- vidual, with all other matters that may be necessary." His report, as well
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as that of Martinez, and that of Estrada, the Señor Prefect of the district, and the action of the Governor thereon in making the grant to Mrs. Bri- ones, which, he stated, was in consideration of those reports, and all other matters necessary to be considered, amounted to a decision that the land granted was not included in any former grant.
In view of the facts and the legal conclusions relative to this matter, it would be just as consistent to hold that the land surveyed under the grant to Martinez was vacant sobrante land in 1841, as to hold that that which was surveyed under the Briones grant was vacant sobrante land at that time ; and the survey of El Sobrante might as well include the one tract as the other. The grants of Pinole and La Boca are precisely similar in char- acter, and were virtually the result of the final determination of the same proceedings before the Mexican Government pending and undecided April 23,1841.
I therefore decide that no part of the Rancho La Boca de la Cañada del Pinole should be embraced in the survey of the Rancho El Sobrante.
The Minto survey not only embraces the larger portion of the La Boca, but also a small part of the Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados (Mora- ga's claim) as patented, and does not include all of the land embraced in the decree as herein construed. It is therefore set aside.
The remaining question is with regard to the tract marked " No. 7" on the Boardman map, and as public land on the Minto plat of survey of El Sobrante. I do not consider that that tract lies between the five Ranchos mentioned, within the meaning of the decree, and it will accordingly be ex- cluded from the final survey.
You will therefore direct a new survey to be made of the following boundaries : Beginning at post S. P. No. 67, at the terminus of course No. 195 in the patented line of the San Pablo Rancho ; thence in a direct line to post P. R. No. 4, terminus of course No. 4, in the patented line of El Pinole Rancho; thence with the patented line of El Pinole to a point therein at which the westernmost line of the Rancho La Boca de la Cañada del Pi- nole as patented extended northwardly intersects said line of El Pinole ; thence with the patented line of the Rancho La Boca de la Cañada del Pinole to the point at which the western patented line of Acalanes inter- sects the same ; thence with the said line of Acalanes to the north patented line of the Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados; thence with the last- named line and the same extended west to the eastern patented line of the Rancho San Antonio ; thence northward with the patented lines of the Ranchos San Antonio and San Pablo to the place of beginning.
The decision of your office is modified accordingly, and the papers of the case are herewith returned.
Very respectfully,
S. J. KIRKWOOD,
Secretary.
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Mexican Grants.
The following is a list of land claims connected with Contra Costa county, presented to the Commission, pursuant to the provisions of the Act of Con- gress of March 3, 1851, entitled, "An Act to ascertain and settle the Private Land Claims in the State of California :"-
Elam Brown, claimant for Acalanes, one square league, granted August 1, 1834, by José Figueroa to Candelario Valencia ; claim filed February 2, 1852, confirmed by the Commission February 14, 1853, and appeal dis- missed November 26, 1856 ; containing 3,328.95 acres. Patented.
Salvio Pacheco, claimant for Monte del Diablo, granted March 30, 1844, by José Figueroa to S. Pacheco ; claim filed February 27, 1852, confirmed by the Commission January 5, 1853, by the District Court January 14, 1856, and appeal dismissed November 24, 1856; containing 17,921.54 acres. Patented.
Robert Livermore, claimant for Cañada de los Vaqueros, granted February 29, 1844, by Manuel Micheltorena to Francisco Alvisu et al .; claim filed February 27, 1852, confirmed by the Commission September 4, 1855, by the District Court December 28, 1857, and appeal dismissed December 28, 1857.
Joseph Swanson, Administrator of the estate of William Welch, claimant for Las Juntas, three square leagues, granted February 9, 1844, by Manuel Micheltorena to William Welch ; claim filed March 23, 1852, confirmed by the Commission December 20, 1853, and appeal dismissed November 3, 1857 ; containing 13,324.29 acres.
Heirs of Juan Sanchez de Pacheco, claimants for Arroyo de Las Nueces y Bolbones, two square leagues, granted July 11, 1834, by José Figueroa to J. S. de Pacheco ; claim filed April 6, 1862, confirmed by the Commission April 11, 1853, by the District Court December 22, 1856, decision of the U. S. Supreme Court as to the right of appeal in 20 Howard, 261, and decree of the District Court affirmed by the U. S. Supreme Court in 22 Howard 225; containing 17,734.52 acres.
Rafaela Soto de Pacheco et al., claimants for San Ramon, two square leagues, granted June 10, 1833, by José Figueroa ; claim filed April 13, 1852, rejected by the Commission November 22, 1853, and confirmed by the District Court February 8, 1858.
Teodora Soto, claimant for Cañada del Hambre and Las Bolsas del Hambre, two square leagues, granted May 18, 1842, by Juan B. Alvarado to Teodora Soto; claim filed April 29, 1852, confirmed by the Commission May 15, 1855, by the District Court April 16, 1857, and appeal dismissed August 11, 1857 ; containing 13,312.70 acres.
John Marsh, claimant for Los Meganos, four leagues by three, granted October 13, 1835, by José Castro to José Noriega ; claim filed May 3, 1852,
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History of Contra Costa County.
rejected by the Commission March 14, 1854, confirmed by the District Court April 9, 1858, and by the U. S. Supreme Court.
Maria Antonia Martinez de Richardson et al., claimants for Pinole, four square leagues, granted June 1, 1842, by Juan B. Alvarado to Ygnacio Mar- tinez ; claim filed July 8, 1852, confirmed by the Commission October 24, 1854, and appeal dismissed March 10, 1857 ; containing 17,786.49 acres.
Domingo Peralta, claimant for half of San Ramon or Las Juntas, de- scribed by boundaries, granted in 1833 by José Figueroa to Bartolo Pacheco and Mariano Castro; claim filed August 14, 1852, confirmed by the Com- mission May 15, 1855, by the District Court March 2, 1857, and appeal dis- missed January 5, 1858.
Leo Norris, claimant for part of San Ramon, one square league, granted August 1, 1834, by José Figueroa to José Maria Amador ; claim filed Sep- tember 20, 1852, confirmed by the Commission August 1, 1854, and by the District Court September 10, 1857 ; containing 4,450.94 acres.
Joaquin Ysidro Castro, administrator, claimant for San Pablo, four square leagues, three leagues granted by José Figueroa, June 12, 1834, to Francisco Castro, deceased, and to his heirs, and on the 13th the surplus lands to Joaquin Ysidro Castro and the heirs of Francisco Castro ; claim filed October 9, 1852, confirmed by the Commission April 17, 1855, by the District Court February 24, 1858, and appeal dismissed March 10, 1858; containing 19,394.40 acres.
Maria Manuela Valencia, claimant for Boca de Cañada del Pinole, three square leagues, granted June 21, 1842, by Juan B. Alvarado to M. M. Va- lencia ; claim filed December 13, 1852, rejected by the Commission August 10, 1854, confirmed by the District Court November 26, 1854, and by the United States Supreme Court ; containing 13,353.38 acres.
Joaquin Moraga, claimant for Laguna de los Palos Colorados, three square leagues, granted August 10, 1841, by Juan B. Alvarado to J. Moraga and Juan Bernal ; claim filed February 15, 1853, confirmed by the Com- mission January 23, 1855, by the District Court March 24, 1856, and appeal dismissed April 8, 1856; containing 13,318.13 acres.
Jonathan D. Stevenson et al., claimants for Medanos, two square leagues, granted November 26, 1839, by Juan B. Alvarado to José Antonio Mesa et al .; claim filed February 24, 1853, confirmed by the Commission June 19, 1855, by the District Court October 16, 1856, and appeal dismissed April 2, 1857 ; containing 8,890.26 acres.
Inocencio Romero et al., claimants for land, granted February 4, 1844, by Manuel Micheltorena to I. Romero et al .; claim filed February 28, 1853, re- jected by the Commission April 17, 1855, and by the District Court Sep- tember 16, 1857.
Thomas MeCali
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Mexican Grants.
E. R. Carpentier, claimant for ten square leagues, a portion granted by P. V. de Sola, another portion granted in 1841 to Juan, José and Victor Castro by Juan B. Alvarado, and another portion granted by José Figueroa to Francisco Castro, and re-granted in 1844 by Manuel Micheltorena to Luis Peralta; claim filed February 28, 1853, rejected by the Commission January 30, 1855, and appeal dismissed for failure of prosecution April 21, 1856.
H. W. Carpentier, claimant for two hundred and twenty-five acres, granted by P. V. de Sola and Manuel Micheltorena to Luis Peralta ; claim filed February 28, 1853, and discontinued by claimant January 23, 1855.
William C. Jones et al., claimants for San Pablo, three square leagues, granted June 12, 1834, by José Figueroa to Francisco Maria Castro ; claim filed March 1, 1853, rejected by the Commission March 27, 1855, and appeal dismissed for failure of prosecution April 21, 1856.
James Enright et al., claimants for Medanos, two square leagues, granted November 26, 1839, by Juan B. Alvarado to José Antonio and José Maria Mesa; claim filed March 2, 1853, rejected by the Commission March 27, 1855, and appeal dismissed for failure of prosecution April 21, 1856.
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History of Contra Costa County.
HOMICIDES OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY.
People vs. Wempett and Wampett-Homicides of Aparicio Morales-Ignacio Flores alias Figaro-James M. Gordon-Terence H. McDonald-Doctor John Marsh-Nicholas Brenzel - An Unknown - Edward Norris - Sadella Catiyo - Guadalupe Tapia-N. Nathan-Patrick Finnegan-James Magee-Louis D'Alencon-An Unknown-John Pete-Martine Berryessa-Aravena-"Jo"-Jesus Diana-Valencia-Mrs. Elizabeth Robinson-Sacramento Leibas-Enoch J. Davis-William Nesbit-S. A. Carpenter- Mrs. Laura Walker-Jose Vaca-George Minchell-Herman Heyder-James Fergusson -Silveria Monjas-Patrick Sullivan-Peter Peters-Valentine Eischler-Jamiens- Michael Duffy-Martin Gersbach-George Muth-Ramon Chaves-Ah Hung-Jose Arrayo-James Mills-George Mitchell-Reyes Berryessa-An Unknown-Langbhen Children-A Chinawoman-Thomas Sheridan-Manuel Sibrian-Louis Farreri-Pat- rick Sullivan-Sheridan-Christian Smith.
" And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is thy brother ? And he said, I know not : am I my brother's keeper ? And he said, what hast thou done ? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which had opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield to thee her strength ; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." Thus is graphically given us on the page of divine history the record of the first murder that ever the sun shone upon or the eye of God looked upon, and the woful curse pronounced upon the author of that foulest of all crimes by the Supreme Judge of the universe. And how tenaciously has that curse followed the generations of life-takers down from Cain to the present day. " A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth !" How natural when a man has taken that from a fellow-man which no power of his can restore, no amends make any adequate reparation, has . taken his life and shed his blood, to become a fugitive! The first impulse is to flee. A power he knows not of until the horrid deed is done impels him on, and ere he is aware he has become a fugitive. And he becomes a vagabond, too ! No matter if the lax operations of the Courts allow him to return to society, the deed has been committed, the blood is on his hands just the same, and all who know him can see it. He can see it, too, far more plainly than others, for it is burned into his consciousness by the flaming tongue of conscience, a chasm is riven between him and human society, and wherever he
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goes, if it is known that he has blood upon his hands, the finger of humanity is pointed at him, and he hears the voice of outraged and, oftentimes, cheated justice, exclaiming in loudest tones : " He is a murderer !" The vengeance of the Author of mankind justly follows him up who presumes to take the life of a human being-a being created in the image of the Divine Creator. After the waters of the flood had subsided, and the generations of men were again starting out to run the course of destiny, God spake to Noah and his sons, saying : " And surely your blood of your lives will I require * *
at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed ; for in the image of God made he man." And when the people of his choice were upon the road to enter the rich inheritance which had been given to their fathers hundreds of years before, he caused them to halt, and amid the thunderings of Sinai he declared to them in language explicit, simple and grand : "Thou shalt not kill." And when the great master, Jesus, came, he embraced all law, all gospel, and all ethical codes into one grand, glorious sentence which stands emblazoned upon the sacred page in letters of living light, and which shall shed forth rays of brightest effulgence all down the ages of the great eter- nity of God, when time shall have ceased, and only immortality exists : " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
On the leaves of a leather-bound memorandum book, found in the heart of an Arizona desert, the following self-reproaches and self-accusations were written in pencil. Near by it the half-decomposed remains of a human being-a murderer-whose curse had truly been more than he could bear. How he suffered let his own simple story relate, as placed on record by the same hand that had sent a human soul unprepared into the presence of its Maker:
" Blood on my hands ! A blur of crimson before my eyes ! The skies are brazen above me. The sun is sick with gore. The winds from the desert shriek at me-shriek and howl; and this one word only do they wail in my ears-this dreadful word, 'Murder !' I stop my ears with my hands; I cry aloud to drown their wailing voices; I cannot drown it; I cannot keep it out. It pierces me-pierces me through and through.
"What is it ? I am bewildered. Why am I flying as one who seeks the ends of the earth ? Yesterday earth had no horror for me. The winds were only winds-not demon voices. Ah, now I recollect. God pity me ! Pity .? I forgot ! He can only curse me. Annihilate me, O God! Blot me out from the universe. That would be pity.
" It all comes back to me now. It is seared in my brain. The long search for the mine ; the days in the desert, in the mountains ; and then, behind that hill that overlooks the 'Valley of Death,' the vein of white, shining silver-wealth for a King. Then it swept over me-my years of poverty and toil, the cold sneer of the rich as they saw my penury-and
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here was wealth. I would have it all-all. Not even my partner should share the treasure. I was mad. He stooped to pick up the precious metal, and I struck him-him, the friend of my toils, and one who had never failed me-him, who had shared his food with me, who had slept upon the desert, in the mountains, under the same blanket ; who had nursed me in sickness-I struck him to the earth. God, I was mad ! Then I was alone with my wealth ; with my wealth-ah ! and the dead. I had not thought of the cold still face that would lie there after the blow ; of the sightless eyes staring to heaven. Then the madness left me. I threw myself beside him ; prayed him to awake; felt for the heart beat. Dead-dead. O my God! Dead! the friend of my toils. And I was a murderer-a murderer !"
Here some leaves were missing, and the next entries legibly represent him as a veritable vagabond :-
"Chill with guilt and fear, White from curse and scorn, Out to the wilderness drear He stumbles through brier and thorn, With a smitten face to haunt him,
Beckoning toward the west, Touching him here and there With a bruise of a ghastly stain, Stinging his numb despair To the jagged quicks of pain."
" Wandering, still wandering. Earth has no rest for my feet ; and I am so weary ! When I step the earth spurns me, and the pitiless skies cry : 'On ! On !' Starving ! Penniless ! and there, back there, is wealth untold. Yet I dare not seek it, dare not tell of it; for there, too, is that cold, still face with the sightless eyes gazing at the heavens, and the red blood cry- ing, ever crying to God. I wander on, and I can feel upon my brow a brand like Cain. It is a brand of blood-hot, burning blood. I walk among men and I feel that they must see it-it is there. I pull my hat over my brow-closely ; O, so closely-down to my eyes, but they must see it. The brand of Cain ! The brand of Cain ! O God, it is upon me! For days I have wandered in the mountains, thirsting, hungering, trembling at the stir of a leaf. Yet death comes not to me. The wild beasts avoid me. The savages pass me by, and harm me not. I suffer, faint-but do not die."
How vividly has Thomas Hood been inspired to portray the feelings of a man whose hands have been imbued with a fellow-man's blood, and whose heart-throb has been stilled by one fell blow. Aye, indeed :-
I.
And how the sprites of injured men Shriek upward from the sod ;- Ay, how the ghostly hand will point To show the burial clod ;
II.
And tell how murderers walk the earth Beneath the curse of Cain, -- With crimson clouds before their eyes, And flames about their brain ; For blood has left upon their souls Its everlasting stain ! *
III. One that had never done me wrong- A feeble man, and old ; I led him to a lonely field,- The moon shone clear and cold : Now, here, said I, this man shall die,. And I will have his gold.
IV. Two sudden blows with a ragged stick, And one with a heavy stone, One hurried gash with a hasty knife,- And then the deed was done ! There was nothing lying at my foot But lifeless flesh and bone ! * *
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V.
But lo, the universal air Seemed lit with ghastly flame, -- Ten thousand thousand dreadful eyes Were looking down in blame ; I took the dead man by his hand And called upon his name.
VI.
My head was like an ardent coal, My heart as solid ice ; My wretched, wretched soul, I knew, Was at the Devil's price ;
A dozen times I groaned-the dead Had never groaned but twice ! * *
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