Morrison Waite

“ It did not propose to give its bounty to settlements obtained by violence at the expense of others. The right to make a settlement was to be exercised on unsettled land,-to make improvements on unimproved land. ”

“ It is found as a fact in the case of Mower v. Fletcher that when the selection was made, the S. E. 1/4 section 36, 'was, and has been ever since, in place, and is the property of the state of California, and has never been under the claim of any confirmed and finally surveyed Mexican or Spanish grant.' This is not inconsistent with the fact that when the selection was made the land was within the limits of an unconfirmed Mexican claim, the boundaries of which had not been fixed by a final survey. ”

“ This was because, by section 8 of the act of July 23, 1866, (14 St. 220, c. 229,) it was provided that 'all land not included in such grant as so set off shall be subject to the general laws of the United States.' As the survey finally made fixed the boundaries so as to exclude the selected lands, the title of the state related back to the selection, and this inured to the benefit of Squiers under his patent from the state. ”