John Catron

“ By the act of Congress organizing the inhabitants of Oregon Territory into a Government, it is provided (sec. 9) that writs of error and appeals from final decisions of the Supreme Court of Oregon shall be allowed to the Supreme Court of the United States, where the value of the property, or the amount in controversy, shall exceed two thousand dollars, to be ascertained by the oath of either party, or by a competent witness ”

“ Parrish filed his bill in equity against Lownsdale and others in a District Court of Oregon Territory, praying for an injunction to restrain the defendants from obstructing a narrow piece of land, claimed as Water street, lying in front of the complainant's storehouse, and a square of ground claimed as his, two hundred feet on each side, laid off into eight lots, as city property, within the city of Portland, and on one of which the storehouse stands. The strip of land lying in front of these lots extends to the Wallamette river; at that point, the land is several hundred feet wide. ”

“ This decree was affirmed in the Supreme Court of Oregon, where the respondents carried the cause by appeal, and from that decree they have appealed to this court, and we are called on to revise the proceedings below. ”