New-York daily tribune., 1858-12-13

claim. II Wa s.leCed thsr the psTrrs We're forged,
lll there vas 10 explanation Ui how or when or
Hhrrr. nor Was there sny evid-gc- ~ support the
allegation. nd at last after The suit had been on
The docket lfur years. the Isrt Commission de-
ciar,d they would wait m l0nCer 'or the promised
evidence &c fraud. aid they decsiei in favor OF
Limsni.ur.
The rsse wss appealed g. The Cnirrd States Dis.
trict CDnrt. snd the battle VAS commenced anew.
Great effort, wer made 70 hunt up testimony. The
Government paid S23 coo 10 two witnesses or com
ing from Mexico. One Of them could not testify t.
.py iact of interest snd the ether wss subst,
euently proved 10 D. peGnrcd. Jacob T. leesr,
one of the Oldest American H.ttleFs IN the State.
md vcTy wealthy man. offered. as he subsequently
tesiihcd, $40 COO To Gomez fnr 8 confession that
be mad bore false witness IN the case. J0Gsn. a
Frenchmal, y ho had been Limantour's agent, made
an Offer IN the papers 10 furnish evidence TO
dPit,f the claim, condition that No shonii be-
psid $50 CO. and S20000 were offered him, but he
would DOT accep, it, and subsequently, hc was COM
pe'led TO testify gratis. Conner rrtnsed the
SO eco bait. The result Of the testimony brought
from Mexico VAS that die-ea'tcr m Nexico bad
said 20 somebody else. that he had cut seal for
L.mau.our " ho intended to ase II on forged deeds
to aud il California. IL was also proved that one
of Liinautm.r's clerks, named LetaDnrur. hid said
he wrote The deeds IN 1859. At this stage OF the
game. in the latter part Of 30, Llmantour came
up from Mexico to face his accusers, bringing Lee
tsnneur with him. This was during the
Vigilance Committee time. Letanneur WAS
arrested and taken before Grand Jury Of
the county but he supposed II was the
Vigilance Comnittee, and they questioned hun.
and re- con,.s,cd be wro e the deeds Ia l-52; that
Is. Re ssii yes" TO their questions whether he
did.
The next day Limantour was indicted and ar
rested for forgery aud perjury, and he stayed IN
prison several DAYS, but was ilna ly released on
giving bonds in $50 U00 for his appearance To an
sy,er the charge. lie soon went oil to Mexico,
and the public supposed that he and his claim mad
made their last appearance IN San francisco. But,
10 and behold in July. l-57, Mr.. l.. came back
ssucpr and stronger than ever. lie brought with
him multitude of witnesses. The chici one was
Don Manuel Castsiares, who was Collector of the
Customs az Monterey Ia $40 and Deputy 10 the
Mexican Congress from California in l-ti snd lSi5.
aud noW Treasurer of The Stale OF PacDla. He Is
an old msp and very intelligent. aud it was admitted
hy al hat there never was ltness on stand IN
the cit, who testified with more readiness and
precision and consistency, and apparent sincerity
ard candor. His testimony vas very lengthy, aud
WAS al important contribution to The history oi the
co,lutry he sygOre that he knew OF the grant IN
leii: that Mich,ltprrcna wrote t0 him about It,
ard reques stcd him to use his influence with Santa
Anna snd Bocauegra to have tue grant confirmed;
that h. wrote "a those officials t0 that effect; that
ttey replied fayOrably; that be the deeds after
csnfrnati0n and changed plan he had, as Con
gressmau, at having navy yard established at San
Francisco, after finding that foreigner owned
much Of the beach there. This testimony carried
great weight with il at the time. The next Wit
mess IN importance was Mrs Robert Grecnhow,
whose husband (thc author of the history of Ore
gon md California; was LAWYER familiar with
the French and Spanish languages, and was
/. :. Law Agent before the Land Commission
in l-J3 and II, early part of l-5i. Mrs. e.,
very Intelligent lady, now residing in Washington
City, certified that her husband and herself passed
through tie City OF MeXico iu ESQ on tier way
10 CaIiioraia. aud stopped some weeks in the
Mexican capital, and there met Mr.. l.mantour,
vLo showed hs deeds t. Mr. g., and requested
him to 'hke charge of them and carry them through
the American coults. she said that she was
present while the two gentlemen we're con'ersinl
about the matter, aud understood that Nr. l.. had
"a very saiusble grant iii San Francisco, aud that
her kusbsLd gave it az his opinion that the deed
was good one. IL was finally agreed that Mr.. l..
should keep bis deeds unit ne shOuld come IN
person to san Frauci-c0. When Mr. l.. came,
however Mr. G. had become I. ;. Land Agent,
and, of course could not tite charge Ot them, but
ht spoke about them IN Mrs. G.s hearing, and sad
the deeds he had examined In MeNlc" had been
flied By Limantour aud we're undoubtedly good,
Notwithstanding the loud charges of fraud in the
papers II is said but did not appear in testimony,
That Mr. Greeuhow spoke tO the effect to
maDy persons in the clty-judge McAl.lster OF the
|. s. Circuit Court, among others. After Mrs.
Greenhow came a dozen other Witnesses men o'
good standing iH tie community ana un'mpeachcd,
:, no testified that they bad seen the deeds of Ii
mantour or beard of them pii,r 10 $50. Among
thase lrrsnns were Armand Guy0i, chief deputy in
our sht riffs Office IN lc51, John Camfroo,
formerly Mayor oi S0uoma Louis Bcnya'ot, a
French merchant OF San Nrlucsco, James Keenan,,
merchant in AmHdOr County, and j. H. GOnz-lcs,
one of the Commissioners, who indicted Michel
torrena into Office ard finally came Lotauncur. and
.vore that he Did not write the deeds, and that be
never said So. except 70 the Grand jury, and that
Lc said Yes" 10 their questions only because be
was grrst, frightened aud thought they were the
Vigilance Committee, and supposed they would
proceed ro hang blm forthwith. lie also produced
4 number Of he letters written at different times
aud ia all these the handwriting Was very different
from that Of the deeds. This testmou! seemed to
put nanl tour all right again, and the lawyers IN
the city generally considered the evidence strong
that il cCuld not he oyerthrown. snch was the
condition Of thc cis- in October of Ast year. aud
Misunderstanding faced hls enemies, declared him
self rsady for trial on the indictments against him,
and driven the United States District Attorney to
tske the defensive, and ask more tine-r.turucd 10
Mexico, where he has since remained.
Soon after he had lett, the strong evidence
against him began to appear. The Mexican Ii"
required legal documents 10 be on stamped paper,
snd il wa. proved that but one seal was used III
Monterey for stamping the Californian psper. An
examination Of the archives showed, however that
two different seals had been used; and one oi the
seals va. found only Oh few documents, and
those all OF = suspected character, of whose genu-
ineness there no satisfactory proois-on grants
for instance which have only been heard OF laCeIy.
This seal "a. found On al the Limantour papers
IL, other seal VS. found on a the old grants OF