Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-07-31

Surveyor PrOwling Around the
Tract - Singular Proceedings fra
Gen. Stratton's Office.
From the S. F.. Chronicle.
Everybody supposed that the once
projected land swindle of the Los Pri-
etos y Najalyegua, or Jose Dominguez
grant, near Santa Barbara, which
party of unprincipled land-speculators
tried to force through Congress and
the Land Office few years ago, was
dead and buried; but there are indica-
tions that the snake was only scotched
and that the swindle is again to lift
its head. In this business there are
certain manipulations by the United
States Surveyor Generals Office which
Gen. StrattOn must not lose time in
rising TO explain. AS they stand now
they have an ugly look, and do not re-
dcund to the credit Of an Office which,
to say the least, is not exactly like
Cfesar's wife, nor has been.
THE HISTORY OF THE CASE.
Jose Dominguez was an old native
Californian, who was born in the last
century near what is now known as
Santa Barbara. In 1S45, he being
then quite an old man, petitioned Pho
Pico, the Mexican Governor, for
grant of lands near Santa Barbara,
under the Mexican colonization laws
of 1924. A few mont hs afterward the
grant was made, subject to several
conditions, which the old man par
tally fulfilled, the change of Govern
ment from Mexican to United States,
having, it is supposed, interfered with
them. One of these unfulfilled con-
ditions was that the land should be
accurately surveyed and the number
of square leagues it contained sent to
the City of Mexico, that patent
might issue. Nothing further was
done upon the grant until 1856, eleven
years after. Meantime, old Jose Do
minguez's cattle and horses ran wild
over it, though the exact limits were
never defined.
"CHEAP AS DIRT"
On the 18th Of April, 1856, Domin-
guez, who was an ignorant man, un-
able to read or write even in his own
language, sold out his entire interest
in the grant for one dollar. Why he
should have done this is not apparent,
unless it was that he was led to be-
lieve by certain interested parties that
the grant was utterly valueless and
liable to ruin him in the way of taxa
tion. At any rate he sold it, and
his interest in the grant ceased for
ever. Thomas Cevasco was the pur-
chaser. He, in turn, sold the claim
to another native, few months after
wards for like consideratiOn-one
dollar. BY this time, however, few
Yankees had began to get into that
section, and to their shrewd wits it
soon became apparent that the grant
ortt, Ath t,,r A Nv,oa II
Charles e. Huse bought it of the last
owner on December |, 1864, for 500,
and he, in turn, conveyed it to the
railway king of Pennsylvania, Thos.
A. Scott, and others, in the March
following for the consideration of
$1,000.
PULLING THE FIRST WIRE.
And now the cause of the great rise
in what was always considered q
worthless grant looked out.
The land was supposed to lie to the
north of Santa Barbara, northward Of
the range of mountains by that name,
but south of the San Rafael noun
grazing, but the spectators cared
nothing for that. AS there never had
been any survey of it, they hoped so to
relocate its lines as to bring it within
a valuable arabic section, withou ref
erence to whose interests it might in
fringe. The first thing to be done
was to have the old Mexican grant
confirmed by the United States Gov
ernment. On the 9th of March, 1866,
Senator COnness presented to the
United States Senate. q memorial, or
what purported to be such, from Do
minguez, praying that he be confirmed
in the old grant. The memoralist
showed that he was seventy years Of
age; that he was born on the land,
and had always lived upon it; that his
father and mother resided here for
more than sixty years up to the time
of their death, leaving children,
grandchildren, and great-grandckil-
dren, who still reside here, and have
no other home; that he did not sub
nit his grant to the Land Commits
sioner of the United States appointed
by Act of Congress in the year 1851,
for the reason that he was not aware
of the existence of that Commission,
he being an obscure and humble in
English languages; and If he had
known of it's existence, he was too
poor to pay the high fees which were
at that time charged by attorneys in
California. He confidently relied up
on the title given him by the Mexican
Government as good and valid, and was
told it would be upheld by the treaty
of Guadalupe Hidalgo, made between
the United States and Mexico; but
was informed that his title ought to
be submitted to the authorities Of the
United States for recognition, where
upon he prayed that he might be per-
mitted to prove title, ETC., etc.
CARRYING THE FIRST OUTPOST.
This appeal so touchingly made by