ORGANIZATION, ACTS AND REGULATIONS OF THE U.S. LAND COMMISSIONERS FOR CALIFORNIA; with the Opinions of Commissioners Hall and Wilson on the Regulation to Allow Adverse Claimants to Intervene in the Original Cases; and Commissioner Thornton's Opinion, Dissenting from That Regulation. Also a List of Land Titles Presented to Date.
San Francisco: Monson, Whitton & Co., Printers, 1852. First Edition. Wraps. Rare and important review of early California land claims and law. Octavo: 43, [1, blank] pp. Disbound, in later marbled paper wrappers. Title page with some offset ink blots from another document. Cowan, p.374; Greenwood 364; Streeter 2725.
Streeter notes, "[Robert Glass] Cleland, The Cattle on a Thousand Hills...devotes Chapter III to 'The Land Act and its Aftermath' under which the United States land commissioners passed on all California titles held under Spanish or Mexican grants and settled private land claims in California. As Cleland says, 'the act constituted one of the most important legislative measures in the history of the state' and the American government 'instead of carrying out its definite pledges to protect the native landholders [in] its later policy actually challenged the validity of every title in California, reduced many legitimate landowners to bankruptcy, and sowed the seed of innumerable economic ills throughout the state.' This pamphlet states the first official acts of the land commissioners. The list of land claims at the end also gives the names of the attorneys. Good. Item #80972
Price: $850.00