United States v. Sandoval

This was a petition filed by Julian Sandoval and others in the court of private land claims for the confirmation under the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 854, c. 539), of what was known as the 'San Miguel del Bado Grant,' in the territory of New Mexico, containing 315,300 acres. It was alleged that the grant was made November 25, 1794, by Gov. Chacon to Lorenzo Marquez for himself, and in the name of 51 men accompanying him; and copies of the original application, of the decree of the governor thereon, of the report, November 26, 1794, of the alcalde Ortiz, and of the report of the alcalde Pino in 1803, hereinafter set forth, were attached to the petition as exhibits.

Petitioners averred that Ortiz gave jurisdical possession of the grant to Marquez and his associates, and that they soon after 'formed a settlement thereon as required by the terms and conditions of the said grant known as the 'Town of San Miguel del Bado,' on the present site of the town of that name, within the limits of the said grant,-the said settlement being formed, as your petitioners are informed and believe, as a villa, with a corporation council, mayor, aldermen, attorney, and secretary; and that the said settlement of San Miguel del Bado continued as a municipal corporation up to the time the territory of New Mexico was ceded to the United States; the said town of San Miguel del Bado embracing within its jurisdiction all of the land within the exterior boundaries of the said grant heretofore described, and the said grant, being, as your petitioners are informed and believe, given to the said settlement of San Miguel del Bado upon the condition that the said settlement should be formed, and that the said tract should be in common, not only to the petitioners, but to all other settlers who might join them in the future.'

That the grant has since been occupied by the original settlers, their descendants and assigns and others who have become part of that settlement, or moved upon the grant and formed other settlements within its exterior boundaries, or built isolated residences and settled thereon, and 'has always been recognized as being a concession made to the town or settlement of San Miguel del Bado and all other settlers who might join them in the future, and from thence hitherto as being the property of all the settlers within the exterior boundaries of the said grant, to be held and used by them in common, except as to such parts and portions as from time to time have been set apart in severalty to individual settlers thereon.

'That there is now no municipal corporation existing within the limits of the said grant of San Miguel del Bado, but all of the settlers upon the said grant, whether residing within the town of San Miguel del Bado, or in other towns upon the said grant, or in isolated places thereon, as a community, have succeeded to all of the lands of the said grant which have not, by prescription and by assignment of alcaldes under the original concession, and subsequent alcaldes, become the property of private individuals and held in severalty, and that the said community, embracing all of said settlers, have managed and controlled the lands of said grant by and through committees appointed in popular assemblies held for that purpose, since their said municipal corporation, under the laws of Spain and Mexico, was abandoned. That the said individuals herein named as petitioners are the present duly-authorized committee of the settlers on the said grant, and make this petition for and in behalf of themselves and all other settlers within the exterior boundaries of the said grant.'

Certain proceedings were set forth as having been had on March 18, 1857, before the surveyor general of the territory of New Mexico on a petition 'made for and in the name of the inhabitants of the settlements of La Cuesta, San Miguel, Las Mulas, El Pueblo, Puerticita, San Jose, El Gusano, and Bernal; the said settlements existing at the date thereof within the limits of the said grant, and the inhabitants thereof comprising at that time all of the settlers upon the said grant; the said petition reciting that the inhabitants of said settlements claimed said grant as being the legal heirs and successors of Lorenzo Marquez and fifty-one other persons, and that they had been up to that date in continual possession of the said grant'; also, a report made to congress on November 13, 1879, and a survey made of the tract July 26, 1880, it being stated that 'no action has ever been taken by congress in reference to the said San Miguel del Bado grant, either looking to its confirmation or rejection.'

The prayer of the petition was as follows:

'Your petitioners therefore claim the said San Miguel del Bado grant, as bounded, surveyed, and described as hereinbefore set forth, and pray that the validity of their claim may be inquired into and decided by this court, and that the said grant may be confirmed to your petitioners and all of the present settlers and residents upon the said grant, as being made to the town of San Miguel Del Bado for the use and benefit of all of said settlers, and for the benefit of the owners in severalty of the lots and parcels of land within its limits.'

The United States answered that the petition of Lorenzo Marquez of November, 1794, was not for, nor intended to be for, the exclusive use, benefit, and behoof of said Lorenzo Marquez, or any one else; that, if Ortiz put Marquez and his co-petitioners in possession of the property, it was not intended that said 'Marquez and his co-petitioners should have the exclusive possession of the whole of the property described in the boundaries set forth in his alleged petition, but that the same was for the use and benefit of said Marquez, his co-petitioners, and any and all citizens without lands who might thereafter settle upon the same; and, further, that the entrances and exits, waters and pastures, and the use of the land unappropriated by individuals in severalty, should be common.'

The answer further averred that the alcalde Pino was directed by Gov. Chacon in March, 1803, to ascertain whether the terms of the grant had been complied with, and that he reported March 12th that he 'found fifty-eight heads of families occupying the same; that in obedience to his said instructions he caused an amicable partition among them to be made, and assigned to each one the land he was so occupying and cultivating; that upon the return of said report the same was approved and confirmed by said Governor Chacon on the 30th day of March, 1803, to the residents of the new town of El Bado, known as 'San Miguel'; that thereafter, up to the occupation of this country by the American troops in 1846, under the terms and conditions of said grant, various parties have moved upon the same, have occupied and cultivated it, and are holding and occupying, were and have been recognized ever since, until now there are a large number of settlements under said grant, consisting of several thousand people, and upon which several towns have grown up under the form and construction given to the grant by Governor Chacon in 1803, and under the terms of the conditions of the pretended possession designated by the alcalde Ortiz in 1794, which in point of fact was never executed as alleged and claimed, but was given by Pino in 1803.

'That the names of the settlements are 'La Cuesta,' 'San Miguel,' 'Las Mulas,' 'El Pueblo,' 'Puerticita,' 'San Josee,' 'El Gusano,' and 'Bernal.' The defendant is informed, and charges the fact to be, that all of these settlements and possessors were recognized by the Spanish government, and were continued without interruption or challenge by the Mexican government, and were in existence at the time the sovereignty of the United States was extended over it under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and that no title ever passed, or was intended to pass, either legal or equitable, against the Spanish or Mexican governments, except as to that portion which might be occupied and settled by said Marquez and his fifty-one co-petitioners, and those who might thereafter come in and settle and occupy the same, and that said claim is not entitled to confirmation for any more than was actually appropriated, occupied, and cultivated in severalty prior to 1846; and it therefore says that this plaintiff, if entitled to confirmation of anything, is entitled to confirmation only of that portion which he actually occupied and possessed under said grant, and that all the portion of said land which had not been subjected in 1846 to actual occupancy and cultivation is, and of right ought to be, public domain.'

After the commencement of Sandoval's suit, two others were instituted, one by Levi P. Morton and the other by Marquez and others, claiming that Lorenzo Marquez took the title to the entire grant, as the other 51 were not named in the grant, petition, or act of possession, and asking confirmation in their names alone as successors in interest to Lorenzo. These suits were consolidated with that of Sandoval, and the three heard as one case.

The court of private land claims held that the act of partition of 1803 rendered the grantees certain, and dismissed the petitions of Morton and Marquez, and confirmed the grant in the name of Lorenzo Marquez and his co-grantees, and all other persons who might have come in and settled on the grant up to December 30, 1848; Murray, J., dissenting. The United States and Morton appealed.