Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-08-01
the WEEKLY HERALD
Is DObli she'd aVprv So.Irflo,. t1or,,ir,
LkND-GRRBBERS AT WORK.
Concluded from yesterday. !
TROUBLE BREWING.

iboI bI4E BREW ING.
The publication of the survey
aroused Il terrible feeling in Santa Bar
bara. Measures were at once taken to
prevent the consummation of so out
rageous a swindle. The city of Santa
Barbara, Wilbur Curtis and others on
the side against the claim, worke ed
like beavers to keep the survey north
of the Santa Barbara range, where it
belonged; while e. J. Pringle, Thos.
A. Scott, Huse and others fought for
the southern boundary. Several new
surveys were made about this time or
later, one of them being known as the
Cooper survey, and this is the one
over which the hardest fighting has
been done. Like the Thompson sur
vey, it brought the southern limits of
the tract clear down to the town of
Santa Barbara. Sometime later Mr..
Day, Mr.. Upton's successor, made an
other Government survey, locating
the grant in its old place, north of the
Santa Barbara range, and both he and
his successor Mr. Hardenbergh, stead
faStly maintained that that should be
the location of the grant if located at
ALL
A TERRIBLE EXPLOSION.
But the settlers and others inter-
ested ia holding their titles clear to
what they had occupied unmolested
for years, were, in the meantime, not
lying idle. In the course of their in
vestigations they made rather start
ling discovery, and that was that old
Jose Dominguez knew nothing Of any
petition having been made in his name
for confirmation of the grant. They
learned that the old man had almost
forgotten ever having had grant
that he never considered it worth any
thing; that he had never lived on the
land. and that he sold 1t for a dollar
and had dismissed the subject from
his mind long ago. The old man was
dumbfounded when told what had
been going Oh in his name. He had
not asked the United States for any
thing, did not want it, and would not
have it. Indeed, the old hidalgo was
furious at the bare idea of his asking
any favor of Congress.
DoMINGUEz Asl oNIsHED AND INDIG-
NANT.
The Santa Barbarians at once took
measures to bring the fraud to the inn
mediate notice of Congress. They got
the old mans affidavits-frst, that he
did not own the Los Prirtos claim,
and had not for years; that he had no
claim upon it or upon the Govern
ment; that he did not, nor never had
lived upon the land, as was alleged in
the bogus memorial in his name; that
the big grapevine spoken of so feel
ingly in the letter of Mr.. Parsons to
member of Congress was not within
twenty miles of the land, and that Mr..
Parsons knew it wheE he wrote the
letter; that he, Domingtroz, never in
structed any person to petition Con-
gress for the confirmation; nor was he
ever consulted with reference to any
such petition.
And then came the following afli-
davit from the old mans son:
STATE OF CALIFoRNIA,
County OF Santa Blrbara.
Francisco Domnguez, being first duly
sworn. deposes and says that he is the son of
Jose Dominguez. the former owner of the
was born and raised in the county of santa
Barbara state of California, and sill lives
there, that he is thirty-eight years OF age and
Is well acquainted with the location of said
rancho; tnat he has been on it every year
more or less Stree boyhoQd and thatthe same
is situated entirely on the north side of the
Santa Barbara mountains, and between those
mountains on the south and the san Rafael
mountains on the north; that his father never
to the south of the Santa Barbara mountains;
that said ranch is from three to five leagues
distant from the town of Santa Barbara, in
northerly direction and about the same dis
tance from the town lands of said town, as
lately surveyed by the United States Survey
or-General for the State of California. Depo-
ncnt further says that during the month of
March, 1866, or about that time, one Charles
ID. Huse proposed to this depOnent that If he
would make an affidavit in accordance with
the suggestions of said Huse, and would swear
that said rancho included lands on the south
side ofthe Santa Barbara mountains, he, the
said Huse, would make depOnent such pres
ent would satisfy him entirely, but depo-
nent refused to make such affidavit or any AT
tidavit in reference to the subject Deponent
further saws that the big grapevine mentioned
in the letter of one Lew Parsons to Hon. Ira
Harris, United States S nator, dated March g.,
1866, was at that time the property of depo-
nent's grandmother. and Was more than four
leagues from the nearest point of the rancho
of Los Prietos Maj llayegua:
FRANCISCO q DoMINGUEz.
sworn TO and subscribed March %: 1870, be-
fore G. YNDART, Notary Public.
A sCATHING REPORT FROM CONGRESS.
These documents with others of an
equally convincing nature, were for
warded to Congress in 1870. That
body appointed committee to eX-
anime and report. Their report was
submitted soon after, and in it they
denounced the authors of the fraud in
unmeasured terms, and strongly rec
commended that the act which author
lied the confirmation of the grant be
promptly repealed. The committee
closed their report with these words:
take the matter, all in all, and 1t presents
the boldest and most astonishing case of at
tempted frau and swindling that your COM
mittee haver been called upon to examine"
THE hill tn raneat the A ct was DasSod
by the House, but what with delays,
ETC., it has never to this day passed
the Senate, and hence the Act to con-
~ rti In, Ti