Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/175/248.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 21:26:10+00:00

Document:
This was a suit instituted by the appellant in the court of private land claims, for the confirmation of a grant of land situate in the county of San Miguel, New Mexico, known as [175 U.S. 248, 249] the 'Apache Springs,' or 'Ojo del Apache' grant, and alleged to contain 11 square leagues, or 47,743 square acres.
The amended petition alleged substantially that prior to June 2, 1842, Manuel Armijo, then governor of New Mexico, granted the tract in question to Venturo Trujillo, in accordance with his petition for the same, and by decree directed the constitutional alcalde of the demarcation of San Miguel del Bado to place the petitioner in possession; that said alcalde subsequently made return that he had placed the petitioner in juridical possession of the lands as directed, and that this return, with the original papers, was duly deposited in the archives of New Mexico.
Petitioner further alleged that he had neither the original of said petition, nor a copy thereof, nor the decree of the governor, nor the return of the alcalde, in his possession; and that neither of them is in the possession of the surveyor general of New Mexico; but he alleged that the archives of New Mexico, previous to the occupation of the territory by the United States, and for some time thereafter, were kept carelessly, and many of the papers and documents, including those therein mentioned, were lost and destroyed; and prayed that he might be permitted to give secondary evidence of the petition, decree, and order of the governor, and of the return of the alcalde.
He further alleged that on July 2, 1842, Damasio Salazar, a justice of the peace of the demarcation of San Miguel del Bado, now embraced within the limits of the county of San Miguel, acting in conformity with the laws and customs of Mexico, placed Venturo Trujillo in possession of the tract so granted; that he entered into such possession and occupied the same for about four years from July, 1842, and that, by sundry mesne conveyances from him to parties who continued such possession, the petitioner, by virtue of the original grant and these mesne conveyances, now claims the ownership of the whole of said tract; and that ever since the year 1842, and at the present time, the said grantee, Venturo Trujillo, and his legal representatives and those claiming under him and them, have held, claimed, used and [175 U.S. 248, 250] occupied, owned and grazed upon, peaceably and notoriously, the whole of said lands.
That no survey of the tract has ever been made; that petitioner cannot state the amount, but that it does not exceed 11 leagues; that one Taylor, who was then the owner of the grant and one of the mesne grantees, made application to the surveyor general of New Mexico for the approval of said grant under the law of July 22, 1854, which was rejected December 19, 1872, upon the ground that the grant was made by a justice of the peace, who, under the laws of New Mexico, had no power to make a grant of lands; that subsequently, and upon September 22, 1873, application was made to the surveyor general to reopen the application for confirmation, and to receive new testimony which had been discovered. The application was granted, so far as to permit the new testimony to be introduced, and the depositions of Guadalupe Miranda, secretary of New Mexico during the administration of Governor Armijo, and of Rafael Aragon, secretary of Damasio Salazar, the constitutional alcalde who placed Trujillo in possession, were taken and made a part of the petition. The application was again rejected by the surveyor general upon the ground that the depositions, being based entirely upon memory, were insufficient to establish a grant by the governor; that Miranda and Aragon are now dead; that the grant has, since July, 1842, remained in the possession of the grantee and his assigns, and has been generally recognized.
No question was made with regard to the intermediate conveyances to the petitioner or of the other formal allegations bringing the case within the provisions of the act establishing the court of private land claims.
The case was tried by the court upon the pleadings and evidence, the claim rejected, and the petition dismissed by a majority of the court. Petitioner thereupon appealed to this court.
Mr. T. B. Catron for appellant.
Seal fourth. (Seal.) One fourth real. For the years eighteen hundred and forty and eighteen hundred and forty-one.
In this second demarcation San Miguel del Bado, on the second day of the month of July of the present year, eighteen hundred and forty-two, before me, citizen Damasio Salazar, justice of the peace of said precinct, personally present appeared citizen Bentura Trujillo, citizen and resident of the first demarcation, soliciting the place and land commonly called the Ojito del Apache, to establish, in company with his children, a farm on which he believes he will have the means necessary for the support of a large family, and to give tithes (illegible) and the holy church their corresponding portions, and I, said alcalde, finding the petition to be a just one and acting in conformity with the supreme decrees, have made him said donation in the name of God and the supreme Mexican nation, so that as a good compatriot, he may make use of it, observing the requirements which our laws provide, under the condition and restrictions that if he does not provide a protection to prevent the damages which may result to him, he is under obligation to bear them, it being commons and pasture grounds of the inhabitants of the precinct; and the boundaries corresponding to said grant are on the north the mesa; on the south the old road to Los Chupaines; on the east the Mesa de los Chupaines; and on the west the hills bordering on Canoncito de la Lagunita; and in order that this foregoing instrument may have the force and validity by law required the aforesaid Trujillo requested me [175 U.S. 248, 252] to interpose my authority and judicial decree, and I, the said justice, declared that I would interpose, and did interpose, as far as I am authorized by law, those of my attendants signing with me, with whom I act by appointment, for the notorious lack of a notary public, there being none of any kind in this department. In form of law, to all of which I certify.
And it is given on this ante-stamped paper, there being none of the proper stamp.
1. The theory of the petitioner is that, some time prior to the date of this document, there was a grant by Governor Armijo to Venturo Trujillo, in accordance with his petition, and that the governor by his decree directed Salazar, the alcalde, to deliver to the petitioner juridical possession of the land; that said alcalde afterwards made return to the effect that he had done so, and that these documents were deposited in the archives of New Mexico, but were subsequently, and about the time of the occupation of the territory by the United States, lost and destroyed. In support of this theory he produced the deposition of Guadalupe Miranda, secretary of the territory of New Mexico during the administration of Governor Armijo, taken November, 1873, to the effect that he was acquainted with Trujillo, and remembered that, about the year 1841 or 1842, he petitioned the governor for this grant of land; that the governor granted the petition, issued a decree to that effect, and directed the constitutional alcalde to place him in possession, 'which said decree he signed as governor of the territory, and I signed the same along with him as secretary of said territory;' that the alcalde subsequently made return that he had placed the petitioner in possession, in obedience to the decree of the governor, and that these papers were duly deposited in the archives of New Mexico and remained under the charge of deponent as public records, he being at that time the legal custodian, and that [175 U.S. 248, 253] from this time Trujillo was considered and reputed as the lawful owner and possessor of the lands by the people in general, as well as by the territorial authorities.
Francisco Trujillo also testified that his father, who was Ventura Trujillo, had brought a very rich woman from the Comanches, and after that, the Mexican government made this grant to his father, and that there was an order signed by the government (governor) with a man to go and deliver the land to his father. That he knows the order was signed by [175 U.S. 248, 254] Governor Armijo, and declared (directed) Damasio Salazar to go and deliver the land. That the land was delivered in the year 1842. That he was present when it was delivered by Salazar and Rafael Aragon, his secretary, and that a communication was signed stating that it had been delivered. He also states that he heard Salazar say, in respect to the order of the governor, that the order was to deliver the land to his father, and then he says that Damasio Salazar sent a communication to General Armijo, stating that the land had been delivered. That his father and Damasio Salazar both told him that it had been sent.
It further appeared and was stipulated that a certain index made by Antonio B. Vigil completed in the year 1851, and entitled 'A general indes of ail documents of the government of Spain and Mexico up to the year 1846,' contained no mention of any grant of the Ojo del Apache tract.
Upon the whole, we think it extremely improbable that, if a grant had been made by the governor, no reference whatever should have been made to it by the alcalde, who, upon the theory of the petitioner, was acting merely as the right hand of the governor in putting Trujillo into possession. The document is not in the usual form of a return to an order of a governor to put a grantee into juridical possession of the land, of which the reports and records of this court show many examples, but of an attempt by an alcalde to make a grant himself upon the petition of an applicant. But if the governor had already made the grant why should the alcalde undertake to make one, or state the reasons why in his opinion it should be made?
He does not pretend to be acting pursuant to a decree of the governor, and makes no mention of a delivery of juridical [175 U.S. 248, 256] possession by going upon the premises with the petitioner, pointing out the boundaries, plucking grass, or throwing stones, taking the grantee by the hand and leading him over the lands, or of any of the formalities which, under the Spanish and Mexican customs, were observed by the officer delivering possession. The document is such an one as the governor might have been expected to execute, but by no means such as to show that the alcalde intended to deliver juridical possession. In short, he assumed to do that which he had no right to do, and carefully omitted to do that for which he had complete legal authority.
6. That these papers should be placed of record in the archives of the territory, and that a copy or testimonio be delivered to the petitioner. Whether the grant of the governor required the approval of the departmental assembly or territorial deputation, is not a question which arises in this case. (Reg. 5, 6, 7, Hall, Mex. Law, 580; United States v. Reading, 18 How. 1, 7, 15 L. ed. 291, 294; Hornsby v. United States, 10 Wall. 224, 19 L. ed. 900; United States v. Vigil, 13 Wall. 449, 29 L. ed. 602).
Not a single one of these formalities appears to have been observed, but we are left to infer from the testimony of two or three witnesses, who swore to their recollection of what took place thirty years before, that some of them were in fact observed. When we consider that this testimony is contradicted, or at least rendered exceedingly improbable, by the only document which the petitioner is now able to produce, we must admit that oral testimony of this kind forms a very uncertain basis upon which to sustain a grant of lands. As we said with respect to a somewhat similar state of facts connected with an alleged grant of land in California (Luco v. United States, 23 How. 515, 543, 16 L. ed. 545, 551): 'It may be received as a general rule of decision, that no grant of land purporting to have issued from the late government of California should be received as genuine by the courts of the United States, unless it be found noted in the registers, or the expediente, or some part of it, be found on file among the archives, where other and genuine grants of the same year are found; and that, owing to the weakness of memory with regard to the dates of grants signed by them, the testimony of the late officers of that government cannot be received to supply or contradict the public records, or establish a title of which there is no trace to be found in the public archives.' In the case of Peralta v. United States, 3 Wall. 434, 18 L. ed. 221, it was said that written documentary evidence, no matter how formal and complete, or how well supported by the testimony of witnesses, if coming from private hands, is insufficient to establish a Mexican grant if there be nothing in the public records to [175 U.S. 248, 258] show that such evidence ever existed. But it was intimated that, if the claimant can show to the satisfaction of the court that the grant had been made in conformity to law and recorded, and that the record has been lost or destroyed, he will then be permitted to give secondary evidence of its contents. See also Fuentes v. United States, 22 How. 443, 16 L. ed. 376; United States v. Knight, 1 Black, 227, sub nom. United States v. Moorehead, 17 L. ed. 76; United States v. Vallejo, 1 Black, 541, 17 L. ed. 232.
In this case, however, the same uncertainty which exists with regard to a grant having been made by the governor necessarily attends the fact as to whether it was ever recorded, and as no testimonio was ever delivered to the grantee, it must be held that the existence of the grant has not been proved.
That a justice of the peace or an alcalde had no power to make a grant of public lands is evident from the character of his office, which appears to have been analogous to that of an ordinary justice of the peace ( Decree of July 22, 1833, Reynolds, Span. & Mex. Law, 170, 176), and from the failure to find any evidence in the laws of Spain or Mexico that such power existed. Indeed, such want of power is admitted by the petitioner. See Reynolds v. West, 1 Cal. 322; Crespin v. United States, 168 U.S. 208, 213 , 42 S. L. ed. 438, 440, 18 Sup. Ct. Rep. 53.
2. In further support of his petition, the depositions of several witnesses were introduced in evidence tending to show that the tract in question had been occupied by the original grantee and those claiming under him ever since the date of the alleged grant, and, indeed, for some years previous thereto. Upon the other hand, oral evidence was introduced by the government to the effect that the land in question had never been occupied by the original grantee, but that he and his family lived at the time of his death, and for many years prior thereto, several miles distant from the land in question. While Trujillo had been upon the land in 1842, he made no improvements thereon, and after remaining a few days left the premises with the remark that the document, for which he paid $3 to Salazar, was worth more than the whole grant; also that the property at that time, and for years subsequent to the possession by the government of the [175 U.S. 248, 259] United States, had been used as common pasturing ground for the people of the vicinity, the alleged grantee or his representatives making no claim to be the owner thereof.
That it should be used for pasturage by the neighboring inhabitants is certainly consistent with the alleged grant, which describes the lands as 'commons and pasture grounds of the inhabitants of this precinct,' and there is nothing upon the face of the grant indicating that this right of pasturage was intended to be taken away. The grantee was apparently to be allowed to establish a farm there for the support of his family, but there is no intimation that he was to have the power to exclude the inhabitants from their customary use of such tract as commons and pasture grounds. Indeed, giving the fullest credence to his testimony, there is little or nothing to indicate that the possession of the grantee, under the alleged grant, was characterized by the notoriety, openness, and exclusive character necessary to make out a title by adverse possession.
It would seem to follow from the general principle of law, so often asserted, that the statute of limitations does not run against the government, that no length of possession since the treaty of 1848 would of itself give a valid title to land. How far the long-continued possession prior to the date of the treaty would be operative against the Spanish or Mexican governments is a question which does not arise in this case, where the possession did not exceed six years. See Lindsey v. Miller, 6 Pet. 666, 8 L. ed. 538; Gibson v. Chouteau, 13 Wall. 92, 20 L. ed. 534; Webber v. Harbor Comrs. 18 Wall. 57, 70, 21 L. ed. 798, 803; Sparks v. Pierce, 115 U.S. 408 , 29 L. ed. 428, 6 Sup. Ct. Rep. 102; Redfield v. Parks, 132 U.S. 239 , 33 L. ed. 327, 10 Sup. Ct. Rep. 83.
But this presumption is subject to the limitation that where title is claimed from a deed which is shown to be void, it will not be presumed that there was an independent grant (Smith v. Higbee, 12 Vt. 124); or where surrounding circumstances are inconsistent with the theory of a grant. Townsend v. Downer, 32 Vt. 183.
The substance of this doctrine is that lapse of time may be treated as helping out the presumption of a grant, but where a void grant is shown it affords no presumption that another valid grant was made. Nor does such presumption arise if the surrounding circumstances are incompatible with the existence of a grant. In the case under consideration we [175 U.S. 248, 262] cannot find any evidence which justifies us in believing that a legal grant can have been made, and under those circumstances we cannot consider possession since the date of the treaty as dispensing with the requirement that the title, if not perfect at that time, was one which the claimant would have had a lawful right to make perfect, had the territory not been acquired by the United States.
In the view we have taken of this case, it becomes unnecessary to consider whether Governor Armijo had power or authority to make a grant of public lands without the assent of the territorial deputation or departmental assembly.
The judgment of the court below must therefore be affirmed.

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