, 1870-12-12
THE McGARRAHEN CLAIM,
4 Brief and Corrected ket*tDFy OF ft%
Origin and Adventures Before tho
Courts

JItnt 1he San Ffnnfiseo Rn1a:rtr.
Ae tLin matter hes Assumed somewhat of
political character, and has excited al inter
EFT nat warranted By ite intrinsic merits, 4
lnef tut corrected history Of the rise and
r.cgrc.a Of this cl1iu, which We derive from
gent1emAn thoroughly posted in tbs fac1s,
may not be embarrassing to many Of our
! readers. On the 9ih OF February, 1855. one
Vicente GUnez presented 10 the hoard Of
Lard Commissioners his claim to tract Of
| the s. TatocLe Gtande,' iyieg IN what WAS
| tht Il tie Southern District Of California. THIS
| clAir wne Of the very tlftnsiert character, and
Was promptly rejectel by the Commissioners.
An apgeal war taken b the comr1aia*at to
Of Califolnis, Of which Ogier WAS the
then Judge. The r.ifed Sta.es District
Attorney for the Southern District hid
atpeaIrd ~ counsel for the claimant before
the Commissioners, and had received from
Gcm.z a conveyance ct one-hAlf Of the clAim.
| He procured anoihcs attorney 10 represent
The claimant before the conr,, and when tho
case wAe reached, he. tbs District Attorney,
| rteyEeted in the claim, stated TO the court
that be had examined the testimony addured
N the care. and could eco no reason why tue
claim lhould not be confirmed, a,sl upon the
rart Of the CLitcd Stater consented to Euch
confirmation. Crcn this statement OF The
lhw officer Of tho government, an order Of
confirmation was entered. Judge O5iet hay-
mg afterward learned th.t the District At.or-
n,y as Interested in the claim, anil that he
htl been mieltd in the premises. of his own
motion made an order AuuuliinS the order Of
confirm ation. THIS order was made At 4
shbse qutnt term. Fletcher u. Haight =uc-
cecded Ogier IN Judge tS the southern
N.tric'. aId IL. upon application, set aside
tho last onler Of 0Gier II improvidently
msdt. uFou til. ground that the Judge lost
all control oyer hi7 order Of csnirn,liiou By
1hs lalse Of tlse term. This left the order Of
| ,E,%,~ ft1+.f %x1I Ii all.
decree the United States appealed to the Su-
preme Court That tribunal unanimously
aud uul4eeltAtinsly rejected the cl.iu.. Those
! Rhe desire moro detailed zccount OF theso
ltg<l proceedings will tini full repor: Of
the n in I'D Of Howard. :233; / W&llace. 7o2,
and ; Wallace, 733 Whilst this case was pend
Ing in the District Court, McG arrAhan pur-
cha.ed tho int crest Of Gomez. The iirat de-
cls'on Of this caso By the Supreme Court Of
the United $ ases, one would have suppoasd sd
aould forever dispose Of the claim of Il G1mez
and his grantees. But consroas, in 1866, had
, p,sred = general Jaw providing for settlers
Who had purchased in good faith Of Mexican
/ cl.itnal IL whosc c!aitps should afterwards be
rejected, allo~ing them to purchase from
: tho gove-Tn,elt euch part Of thu re-
icc.ed claim as they had occupied and in
i proved. at tho minimum price. No., then,
StcGAFrAhan comes forward, A1ld. representing
hims eli N the uufcr innate purchaser Of such
;, rel. c:ed clains, petitions Congress for the
UAFEhEE u DAk AIEuuIaLluts ulm III 34lCuA5E
!, OF tile government not the land cisimed b.
: Gomez, but cerlsiu other public lands lying
i ablut twenty miles eooth Of tho southern
{ boundary Of the ''panoche Granae." Thi.
reGuiTes sotoe explanation. An act passed II
1852 authorized MextcAn claimant, upon BIZ
Il eutveY .of bis claims made by tue Surveyor
General. Such q survey IL altogether E.
II paTte; nobody can question It, and by law i
has no other effect thsn in suits at law to fur
nish primo jacie prouf Of tho location Of tn
4 grant, It was under this act that McGsrra
|" ban and the Deputy Surveyor Of The Uuitet
n States made an ot1i:ia1 plat of tho Come:
st grant, which WAS made to Include the foca
81 lion Of the New Idria Quickailvar Minin
Company. Upon this land thia company Al
d teen years, and had spent in Improvement
=. y. three or fur hundred thousand dollars. ]
waa the land incluaed in this plat that tho Nc
Ga11ahan bill was to confer upon AcGa1rahar
ae 3lct;arta aAan is rhrevd. plsusiole, and inde
fatiEatle. ue proceeded 10 form 5 joint stoc
company, the Asset. ct which WAS Lis claim t
be the New ldIih minis he issued stock, an
scattered it freely amongst the 1aadiug An
he meet influential politicians In tho couutr,
re lie greatly exaggerated the yalne Of thos
it ullEct, and 1t WAH said thnt soGle OF tho men
ck bers sFho So1el for the bill looked upon the
L. fortunes a. assured ty it, passage Tho bi
wsa introduced into the House OF Represent
tivea in the winter Of Isk7-G8. and passed tu'
=. body by a handsome majority. 1t went to II
Is Senate. and VA. referred to tho Committee {
~ Company, who lad before felt secure ia Il
~ moustrous absura,ty Of ttsHe proc .eaingH, b.
~ gan to be seriously Alarmed, and took mea
~ ufes to expose the nature and character
I'd the claim. Tho working members Of the cor
on mitseo consisted OF Williams. Of Orego
co Terry. OF Connecticut, ard Howard Of Micl
2. gan. They wete all three puisoned by Il
Ac representations t1aat had been made to the
III. by McGarrahsn and his associates, becAu
il: up to 'his time they, had hal it pretty n,u'
"a iuittee although strangely prejudiced in fav
30. Of tie claim, were fur, honest, aud up1ig
.,sss .ss men they gave tho w,lo'e matter \ tlofon{
"a investigation, and. pal 2ahle were the pros
~ han by the bill was not the l.nd cl.imed
on Gomez that they unanimously reeommend'
TO the indefinite postponcuaeut Of the bill, u
ms accordingly on--dsy of-1scs. the bill v
H. H. called up. and vas br The Senstc indefinite
NJ postponed. It is the eame bill that NEG.
lie House, anil il again seeking to pass. .Amo
Or many proofs OF the fraudulent character
I'd. that surrey which located the Com
~ S claim on the New 1driA mines, it is suficic
ns. n5 to refer to the following: Gomez hi
'nE telf. ln biz application, describes
ILL., Don Francisco A1iss. Nov, on the correct
,H- iic;a{ map OF California, to be found IN I
tae Surveyor Generals Office, the raIcho Of An
A. sn. called - Real de los A9uitas.'' ia laid dow
M t1so the OK patte euryeg OF the Goinez c]at
ut | nIon which the SIcGarrah4n bill In bas.
lies lhts map shows the northwest corner Of
raucche Grade. ~ claimed by Neiiarrah
on | TO be about tHeIya uoiles sor,h. and IN
M .ae tho came distance east Of tho southeast cor,
m m Of tue rancho IS Real do los Aqui.as."
Ell AuAt 10 ~ ueaI ~ -AeHa1xAnAn ana kne dep
.1d. | thfFesef could coma 10 line that vas to to
II one of tho boundaries OF their survey.
This may stats here, that before the commit
.,o upon "p1ivate Land Claius," McGAr1ai
LIE LIE Was represented by Is ab!e counsel as
1ss. e9ts - ~ NA*hs'oa AAotaeo. au4 tuat uo1n
ash VAS Ie1t uuiGnC IN support OF hts Claim t
'av- human ing suuitr could supply. There ne
AVE- was 4 bolder attempt upon the part OF
-, min to appropriate to h1m.elt the prooert,
~ ano1hes, than tie history OF this case prest