The herald., 1896-01-24
ROGERIO ROCHA'S LANDS
A Quit Claim Deed TO Lewis From
R0cha On Record
President CIeveiand's Special Message Re.
ferring to Fraudulent Land Patents and
Asking an Extension Of Time for Contest


sion Indians, appointed, among other
things, TO protect the rights of the Indian
Rogerio Rocha to certain lands in the San
Fernando valley, has been heard from.
Mr.. Lewis, it will be remembered, has
been charged by some parties with having
obtained from his client a deed to all of
the rights he was appointed to protect for
the nominal consideration of $40. Inas-
much as these rights are by some con-
sidered to be worth thousands of dollars,
the statement that Mr.. Lewis had deed
on record from Rogerio conveying the In
dams rights to him, the transaction was
regarded as singular and anomalous.
But now comes Mr.. Lewis with a state
ment that his deed from Rogerio Rocha is
merely trust deed to the Indians rights
and title in the San Fernando valley lands
If Mr.. Lewis is correctly reported his
statement Is extraordinary, for the deed,
which Rogerio Rocha gave his lawyer. the
said Frank ID. Lewis, is quit claim deed.
1t bears date of August 10, 1892. By its
terms Rocha ''does remise, release and
forever quit claim unto the party of the
second part Crank ID. Lewis) and to his
heirs and assigns forever all that certain
lot, piece or parcel of land situated in the
said county of Los Angeles; etc. Then
follows description of the land in cues.
ton.
There is certainly no trust deed about
this. Mr.. Lewis may be able to explain
where the trust clause comes in, but it cam
not be observed in deed on record.
Then Judge Widney says that Lews'
deed from Rocha is worthless, for the rea-
son that an Indian cannot deed his rights
away. This may or may not be true.
Be that as it may. Rogerio Rocha is near
ing the Goth year of his age, a pauper
without place to lay his head, while
whatever rights he may have had in the
broad, rich acres of San Fernando have
been lost to him by the treachery of his at
torney.
President Cleveland recently sent a spe-
cial message to congress recommending
that the time be extended within which the
federal government can sue TO recover
lands illegally held by land patents be-
lieved to be void or voidable on account of
fraud.
The Hon. Zachariah Montgomery of this
city is now in Washington working on this
matter. He had presented a petition a
to the president in regard to this matter
and from that petition the following facts
are cleaned appertaining to the San Fer
nando grant:
"First-There are lands held under pa
tents absolutely void because resting on
pretended grants, void on their face aud
upon void DEGREES of confirmation.''
Then the petition recites the act of 1851
creating the California land claims COM
mission to settle private land claims in
this state. The petition recites decision
| OF the United States supreme court b,
virtue of which he claims that in order to
| give jurisdiction to the land commission re-
| ferred to sit was necessary that the petit
toner for confirmation of land claim
should at least allege facts sufficient to
show that he claimed the land by virtue OF
a right or title derived from the Spanish or
| Mexican government
| "Now the truth is that large number of
claims for vasts tracts of California lands
were confirmed by those commissioners in
compliance with petitions that not only
! failed to show any right or title derived
from the Spanish or Mexican government,
but which showed conclusvely that there
was no right or title whatever derived from
either of said governments.
"For example, in the case of the petition
of one Eulogio de Cells asking for the con-
firmation to him of the so-called San Fer
nando mission grant, the said petition filed
October z, 1852, stated facts which showed
clearly that the grant was in direct viola
tion of law and utterly void. Said petition
alleged and the so-called grant accom-.
panying the petition showed that instead
of grant made In pursuance of the Mexi-
can law, it was an attempted sale in viola
ton of law for 5 l 4 900, of tract of land
alleged to contain about fourteen square
leagues"
This grant referred to-the de Cells
| grant-was the one upon which Rogerio
Rocha was elected from his home ten years
| ago.