John Archibald Campbell

“ To strengthen his case, he adduces the testimony of a witness, to the effect that the witness had built a house upon the land in 1847, and had occupied it as tenant from that date; that there were people who inhabited and cultivated the land for the claimant, and that before 1847 the disturbances in the country hindered any improvement or settlement.
This testimony is contradicted by a witness produced on the part of the United States, who testifies with precision, and seems to have had every opportunity of acquiring exact information. ”

“ The claimant is a kinsman of the Governor, and we should expect to find on the part of the Governor the most exact attention to the laws prescribing rules for his guidance under such circumstances. Besides, the titulo bears date of a day when the conquest of Upper California had been completed by the military occupation of Monterey, Sonoma, Bodega, Yerba Buena, and the region of the Sacramento and American rivers, by the forces of the United States. ”

“ The appellee, a Mexican by birth, obtained a decree of confirmation in the District Court for a parcel of land, known as Las Calaveras, containing eight square leagues, and situated in Tuolumne county, in California. ”