MR. PEACHY'S ARGUMENT.

Statement of the Documentary Evidence of Title.

May it please the Court:

I think it best to premise my argument, by reading the documents on which the claimant relies as evidence of his title; I shall therefore begin with a statement of the Documentary Evidence of Title.

In this statement I shall give the translations only. The originals can be easily referred to.

The documents of title on which we rely, are the following:

First. CASTILLERO'S FIRST REGISTRY.

"Señor Alcalde of First Nomination :

Andres Castillero, Captain of permanent cavalry, and at pres ent resident of this Department, before your notorious justification, makes representation: that having discovered a vein of silver, with a ley of gold, on the land of the rancho pertaining to José Reyes Berreyesa, retired sergeant of the presidial company of San Francisco, and wishing to work it in company, I request that in conformity with the ordinance on mining, you will be pleased to fix up notices, in public places of the jurisdiction, in order to make sure of my right when the time of the juridical possession may arrive, according to the laws on the matter. I pray you to provide in conformity, in which I will receive favor and justice; admitting this on common paper, there being none of the corresponding stamp.

Pueblo of San José Guadalupe, November twenty-second, eighteen hundred and forty-five.

ANDRES CASTILLERO."

The original of this communication was retained in the Alcalde's office of San José, until it was transferred to Mayor's office at that place in 1850, whence it was taken in January, 1851, and filed in the Recorder's office of Santa Clara County, where it now exists.

Second. CASTILLERO'S AMENDED REGISTRY.

"Señor Alcalde of First Nomination:

I, Andres Castillero, permanent captain of cavalry, before your well known justification, appear and say: that on opening the mine which I previously denounced in this Court, I have taken out, besides silver with a ley of gold, liquid quicksilver, in the presence of several bystanders, whom I may summon on the proper occasion. And, considering it necessary for the security of my right so to do, I have to request of you, that uniting this representation to the denouncement, it may be placed on file, it not going on stamped paper because there is none. I pray you to take measures to this effect, in which I will receive favor and grace.

Santa Clara, December 3, 1845.

ANDRES CASTILLERO."

The history of the custody of this document is the same as that of the foregoing.

Third. THE ACT OF JURIDICAL POSSESSION.

"There being no deputation on mining in the Department of California, and this being the only time since the settlement of Upper California, that a mine has been worked in conformity with the laws, and there being no 'Juez de Letras,' (professional Judge) in the second district, I, the Alcalde of First Nomination, citizen Antonio Maria Pico, accompanied by two assisting witnesses, have resolved to act in virtue of my office, for want of a Notary Public, there being none, for the purpose of giving juridical possession of the mine known by the name of Santa Clara, in this jurisdiction, situated on the rancho of the retired sergeant, José Reyes Berreyesa, the time having expired which is designated in the ordinance of mining, for citizen Don Andres Castillero to show his right, and also for others to allege a better right, between the time of denouncement and this date, and the mine being found with abundance of metals discovered, the shaft made according to the rules of art, and the working of the mine producing a large quantity of liquid quicksilver, as shown by the specimens which this court has; and as the laws

now in force so strongly recommend the protection of an article so necessary for the amalgamation of gold and silver in the Republic; I have granted three thousand varas of land in all directions, subject to what the General Ordinance of Mines may direct, it being worked in company; to which I certify, the witnesses signing with me; this act of possession being attached to the rest of the expediente, deposited in the archives under my charge; this not going on stamped paper, because there is none, as prescribed by law.

Juzgado of San José Guadalupe, December, 1845. ANTONIO MARIA PICO.

(Signed)

This record of juridical possession is the original preserved by the Alcalde in the archives of his Court. This original, like Castillero's two representations, was retained in the archives of the Juzgado at San José; and when the old Alcalde system was replaced in 1850 by the municipal authorities of the city of San José, it passed into the Mayor's office, whence in January, 1851, it was taken to the office of the County Recorder of Santa Clara County and filed, where it has remained to the present time.

Fourth. The Ordinances of 1783 provide that the written statement of the discoverer having been noted in substance in the Book of Registry shall be returned to the discoverer for his security, and that there shall also be given him as his corresponding title, a certified copy (copia autorizada) of all the proceedings connected with the giving of possession.

Castillero's written statements, or representations in registry, were not returned to him, but remained in the office of the Alcalde. He received however certified copies of them on the 13th January, 1846, signed by Pedro Chavoya, Alcalde, and by José Suñol and Pedro Sainsevain, attesting witnesses.

The copia autorizada of the record of juridical possession was delivered to Castillero. It is an exact copy of the original record, with the exception that in the original the date of the act of possession is December, 1845, while in the copia autorizada it is December 30, 1845.

The two certified copies of Castillero's written statement in

Registry, just mentioned, and the copia autorizada of the record of juridical possession are in evidence.

Fifth. While Castillero was yet in California, he addressed two letters, dated respectively, Mission of Santa Clara, 19th and 22d February, 1846, to J. J. de Herrera, former President of Mexico, and also a letter written from the same place on the 19th of the same month to Don Tomas Ramon del Moral.

These letters, together with specimens of cinnabar and of other ores from several parts of the State, were sent to Mexico by the hands of the sergeant, Lazaro Piña, who sailed from Monterey for Mazatlan, on the 7th March, 1846, in the brig Hannah.

Señor Herrera, it appears, furnished Señor Moral with extracts from Castillero's two letters to him, in a note from the former to the latter, dated Mexico, 13th April, 1846.

A copy of the foregoing note, and also a copy of Castillero's above mentioned letter to Señor Moral, and also some specimens of the cinnabar and coal which Castillero had sent by Piña, were sent to the Junta de Fomento y Administrativa de Mineria, by Señor Moral, somewhere about the middle of April, 1846.

Copies of the documents thus furnished the Junta by Señor Moral, are in evidence. They are as follows:

Señor Don Andres Castillero, commissioned last year by the Supreme Government to pass to California on an object of public service, tells me, in letters written from the Mission of Santa Clara, on the nineteenth and twenty-second of February of this year, that which follows:

"At the distance of five leagues from this Mission, to the west, I have discovered and denounced a very abundant mine of quicksilver, and to confirm my truth, I send you some ores of those which have been taken from the top of the vein; a little quicksilver also goes, which we have taken out with the greatest facility. The Señor Director of the College of Mining, Don Ramon del Moral, will receive much pleasure in seeing equalled the ores of Almaden. From the width of the vein, and the abundance of metals taken out, within one year, with the protection of the Supreme Government, the Republic will not need quicksilver from foreign parts. I send you some trifles made by the Indians of the northwest, and products of this country. Coal is very abundant, and is found on the coasts of

the Bay of San Francisco, so that the steamers, sending out their small boats, may load all that they require: this discovery was made by Colonel Don Juan Bautista Alvarado: the rock crystal is a very large hill."

Copy. Mexico, April 13, 1846.

Señor Director of the College of Mining,
DON RAMON DEL MORAL.

J. J. DE HERRERA.

MISSION OF SANTA CLARA, }

February 19, 1846.

My Esteemed Friend and Appreciated Sir:

You know how devoted I am to the branch of mining, and intent upon finding a mine of quicksilver. I have discovered a most abundant deposit. With this I send to His Excellency, the President, some ores of cinnabar, and a little quicksilver. We are forming a furnace, and have assayed said metal in a musket barrel, the touch hole stopped with clay, and the muzzle put in water; in this manner it has given us thirty per cent. I would esteem it a favor if you would take the trouble, for the sake of the public good, to cause this metal to be assayed, as this operation depends upon your work. May you and all the family retain good health; and, as much as you please, command your

Obedient servant, &c., &c.,

ANDRES CASTILLERO.

Sixth. The Junta de Fomento, on the 21st April, 1846, sent the said specimens to the Director of the College of Mining for assay; they also sent him copies of Castillero's letters to Herrera and Moral, and addressed to him the following letter:

MINING JUNTA AND

ADMINISTRATION OF MINING.

April 23, 1846.

Junta Facultativa

Excellent Sir:-Señor Don Tomas Ramon Transmit to the del Moral having presented to the Junta some of the College, with specimens of cinnabar from the Mission of Santa preference. Clara, in Californias, which Señor Don Andres TORNEL. Castillero sends him, together with the annexed copies, with the object of inciting the Supreme Government that it may be pleased to aid so important an enterprise, has the honor of transmitting to your Excellency said specimens, with the view that the proper assay of the cinnabar should be made in the laboratory of that College, letting the Junta know, without delay, the result.