the absolute necessity of showing by some means that the bounda ries within which the party claims do not contain more than her grant calls for, must be apparent to all. There can be no more clear proposition presented than when the government of Mexico expressed in precise terms the exact quantity which was intended to be granted to be three square leagues, the party could not take six or ten under the clause, a little more or less. The quantity granted was material, and the government provided a way for ascertaining that quantity, and, notwithstanding there was no regular scientific government surveyor, the rude measurement which was made of lands that were granted, by an officer responsible to the government for his acts, and who was bound by his oath to protect the public domain and guard the law from violation, secured just as effectually the segregation of the land granted, and fixed the quantity, not perhaps with the same precision and certainty, but near enough for all practical purposes. The terms more or less were, no doubt, inserted in view of the rude and uncertain means which the government at that day was compelled to adopt in the absence of a more scientific mode of making surveys of the public lands. We therefore think that in the grant under consideration was clearly not intended to be made by metes and bounds, without regard to quantity; and as no proof has been produced by which the exact quantity embraced in their given limits can be ascertained, the claim for confirmation must be denied for the want of a sufficient description of the land. The claim is therefore rejected. GEO. FISHER, Secretary. Decree. MARIA MANUELA VALENCIA vs. THE UNITED STATES. In this case, on hearing the proofs and allegations, it is adjudged by the commission that the claim of the petitioner is not valid, and it is therefore decreed that her application for a confirmation of the same be denied. Filed in office June 7th, 1854. ALPHEUS FELCH, [REC. CXCI, D. T. 1858.]—2 Commissioners. GEO. FISHER, Secretary, Order. And it appearing to the satisfaction of this board that the land hereby adjudicated is situated in the northern district of California, it is hereby ordered that two transcripts of the proceedings and of the decision in this case, and of the papers and evidence upon which the same are founded, be made out and duly certified by the secretary, one of which transcripts shall be filed with the clerk of the United States district court for the northern district of California, and the other be transmitted to the Attorney Gen'l of the United States. Secretary's Certificate. OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS To ascertain and settle the private land claims in the State of Cal'a. I, George Fisher, secretary to the board of commissioners to ascertain and settle the private land claims in the State of California, do hereby certify the foregoing seventeen pages, numbered from 1 to 17, both inclusive, to contain a true, correct and full transcript of the record of the proceedings and of the decision of the said board, of the documentary evidence, and of the testimony of the witnesses upon which the same is founded, on file in this office in case No. 490 on the docket of the said board, wherein Maria Manuela Valencia is the claimant against the United States, for the place known by the name of "Boca de Cañada del Pinole.' In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand and affix my private seal, (not having a seal of office,) at San Francisco, California, this fourth day of December, A. D. 1854, [SEAL.] and of the independence of the United States of America the seventy-ninth. Endorsed: Filed December 4th, 1854. GEO. FISHER, Sec'y. JOHN A. MONROE, Clerk. Petition, &c. In the District Court of the United States for the northern district of California. MARIA MANUELA VALENCIA, Claimant, VS. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. For the place named "Boca de Cañada del Pinole." To the Clerk of said court: Please take notice that we have been retained by the plaintiff in the above entitled cause, to prosecute this suit. You will further take notice that it is the intention of the plaintiff to prosecute the appeal of said cause from the decision of the board of land commissioners to settle private land claims in Cali fornia, rejecting said claim, being case No. 490 before said commission. Yours, &c., BATES, LAWRENCE & HASTINGS, In the District Court of the United States for the northern district of California. MARIA MANUELA VALENCIA, Claimant, VS. THE UNITED STATES. No. 490 of Transcripts. For the the place named "Boca del Cañada del Pinole.' To the District Court of the United States for the northern district of California. The petition of Doña Maria Manuela Valencia respectfully represents, that she is a citizen of California; that the premises hereinafter mentioned are within the jurisdiction of this court; that she presented her petition to the board of land commissioners to ascertain and settle private land claims in the State of California, on the 13th day of December, A. D. 1852, for a confirmation to herself of the place named "Boca de Cañada del Pinole," adjoining and contiguous with the rancho of Don Ignacio Martinez, with that of Julian Will, with that of Don Candelario Valencia, said tract containing three square leagues, more or less, situate in the county of Contra Costa. This petitioner further says, that she accompanied her said petition with the original grant of said land by Juan B. Alvarado, governor of California, dated the 21st day of June, A. D. 1842, to your petitioner. And your petitioner further says, that she supported her said claim before the said commission by the testimony of witnesses, a transcript whereof is on file in this cause. And your petitioner further says, that she was in possession of said premises prior to the date of said grant; that she lived upon and cultivated a considerable portion of said premises; which said occupation and cultivation she has continued until the present time; that she knows of no conflicting claim thereto. And your petitioner further represents, that her said claim was rejected by the board of land commissioners on the 7th day of June, A. D. 1854, and a decree was entered accordingly. That the only ground upon which said opinion and decree was founded, was for uncertainty and indefinitiveness of boundaries. Your petitioner further says, that said ranch is bounded as follows: on the north by the rancho of Don Ignacio Martinez; on the east by the rancho of Don Julian Will; on the south by the rancho of Candelario Balencia, and on the west by the rancho last. mentioned and the Sierra de Labor; that said boundaries contain three square leagues of land, and were the boundaries of the place known as "Boca de Cañada del Pinole," long prior to the date of the grant therefor. Your petitioner further represents, that the transcript in said cause containing the proceeding and decision, and the papers and evidence on which the same was founded, properly certified by George Fisher, secretary of the said board, has been sent up by said board of land commissioners to, and filed in this court, in accordance with the law in such cases made and provided, on the 4th day of December, A. D. 1854, to all of which papers reference is herein had, and made a part of and incorporated into this petition. Your petitioner further says, that she begs leave to introduce further testimony in support of her said claim, under the rules and order of this court, and therefore prays that this honorable court will review the decision of said board of commissioners, and decide upon the validity of her said claim; and your petitioner shall ever pray, &c. By BATES, LAWRENCE & HASTINGS, Her Attorneys. Due service of a copy, of which the within is the original, is hereby admitted. Dated San Francisco, December 7th, A. D. 1854. Endorsed Filed December 8th, 1854. S. W. INGE, Pr. A. GLASSELL. JOHN A. MONROE, Clerk. Deposition of Jose de Jesus Martinez, United States District Court, northern district of California. SAN FRANCISCO, May 30th, 1855. On this day, before W. H. Chevers, a commissioner of the United States for the northern district of California, duly authorized to administer oaths, &c., &c., came José de Jesus Martinez, a witness produced on behalf of the claimant in case No. 138, being an appeal from the board of commissioners to ascertain and settle the private land claims in the State of California in case No. 490 on the docket of the said board of commissioners, and was duly sworn and testified as follows: Present, Edwin A. Lawrence, counsel for claimant, and A. Glassell, for the U. S. district attorney. Question 1st by claimant. What is your name, age, and place of residence? Answer. My name is José de Jesus Martinez; am 40 years of age; and my place of residence is Contra Costa county, California. Question 2d. Are you acquainted with the rancho above mentioned; if yea, how long have you known it? Answer. I do know said rancho; I have known said rancho since the month of April, A. D. 1829. Question 3d. State what you know in regard to the occupation and cultivation of said rancho by said claimant, and state whether said claimant is a widow or married woman. Answer. I know that in the said year 1829 the husband of said claimant cultivated said rancho, and did so every year up to the time of his death, which took place on the 6th day of January, 1840, and since then the place has been and is now occupied and cultivated by his widow. She is still a widow and has remained a widow ever since the death of her husband, Felippe Briones, who built in his lifetime an adobe house for a dwelling-house, and one for a kitchen or cook-house; also there was a garden. Question 4th. State what you know in regard to the boundaries of said rancho, what are its contents, and what you know in regard to any survey of the same. Answer. The boundaries of said rancho are as follows, viz: On the north it is bounded by the rancho of Ignacio Martinez, my father, called "Pinole;" on the east by the ridge of the lagoons, which ridge separates it from the rancho of William Welsh; on the south by the rancho of Mr. Brown, which he bought of Candelario Valencia; the dividing ridge between the two ranchos is called "Cuchilla del Keliz;" and on the west by the ridge called "La Cuchilla del Corral de Galindo," which ridge divides it from the San Pablo, or sobrante rancho, and also on the west and northwest by "La Joya," which touches both the San Pablo or sobrante rancho, and that of Ignacio Martinez. The rancho claimed in this case is entirely and completely surrounded and bounded by the ranchos which I have mentioned. The contents of the rancho claimed in this case are about three leagues. The original map, a copy of which is attached to the transcript in this case, was made by me in 1841, and is correct. It was the original map presented by Doña M. M. Valencia to the governor when she petitioned for the land, and I made it for that purpose. When I made it the houses, corral and garden were on the rancho as represented on thẹ map. Cross-examined by U. S. Attorney. Question 1st. By what means did you obtain any knowledge of the boundaries of the said rancho and the contents of the same? State all the means of knowledge you have in the matter. Answer. I became acquainted with the boundaries of said rancho by going over the land with Ramon Briones, one of the sons of the widow, the claimant, for the purpose of making the map I have alluded to; by comparison with the "Pinole" ranch, which contains four leagues of land. I know the one in question does not contain more than three. I have lived on said rancho of my said father since April, 1830, and have ridden over the ran |