Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/310

292 was already covered by a patent under the donation act to W. D. Bigelow, who settled at The Dalles in 1858, and a deed under the town-site act. But by Judge Deady this patent was held of no effect, because the section of the statutes under which it was issued imposed conditions which were not complied with, namely, that the grant could only be made upon a survey approved by the surveyor general and found correct by the commissioner, neither of which could be maintained, as both had rejected the claim. And in any case, under the statute, such a patent could operate only as a relinquishment of title on the part of the United States, and could not interfere with any valid adverse right like that of Bigelow or Dalles City, nor preclude legal investigation and decision by a proper judicial tribunal.

This legal investigation began in the circuit court of Wasco county in September 1877, but was removed in the following January to the United States district court, which rendered a decision in October 1879 adverse to the missionary society, and sustaining the rights of the town-site owners under the donation and town-site laws, founded upon a thorough examination of the history and evidence in the case. The mission then appealed to the U. S. supreme court, which, in 1883, finally affirmed Deady's decision, and The Dalles, which had been under this cloud for a quarter of a century, was at length enabled to give a clear title to its property.

The claim made by the catholics at The Dalles in