Sonoma County CA Archives History - Books .....Land Titles 1877 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 24, 2006, 10:17 pm Book Title: Historical And Descriptive Sketch Of Sonoma County, California LAND TITLES. The settlement of the town of Petaluma led to protracted complication and costly litigation in the matter of land titles. There are some curious features in this legal controversy, and we give herewith a condensed statement of the conflicting claims and the final issue of all the suits. That portion of Petaluma township bounded by the Petaluma creek, the San Antonio creek, the Rancho Laguna de San Antonio, and the Rancho Roblar de la Miseria, was formerly known as the Kancho Arroyo de San Antonio. Juan Miranda first settled thereabout the year 1838, with his family, horses, and cattle, and built a small house, about two miles distant from the present city of Petaluma. In 1844 he applied for a grant of this land. Jacob P. Lease, then alcalde of the district of Sonoma, certified that he was the only occupant, and an order was made October 8, 1844, by Governor Micheltorena, that the usual title be issued to him. A formal grant of the land to Miranda was drawn up pursuant to this order, and was subsequently found in the archives, but was never executed by the governor in consequence of the political disturbances which ended in Micheltorena's overthrow. Miranda was the father of many children, and one of his daughters, Francisca, married a Mexican named Antonio Ortega, who had no settled habitation, but lived sometimes with his wife's family, at this rancho, sometimes with the priests at the different missions, and for several years in Oregon. On the ground of his occasional visits to his father-in-law he set up a claim to being the real occupant of the rancho, and succeeded in obtaining from Governor Alvarado a decree for the land, purporting to have been made August 10,1840. Thus there were two conflicting claims to the same tract of land. After the death of Miranda, at San Rafael, in 1850, his title was sold by order of the probate court of Marin county, and was purchased by T. B. Valentine of San Francisco. Whether the proceedings at this sale were regular, so as to vest in the purchaser a perfect title, is at least doubtful. The title of Ortega was conveyed to Charles White of San Jose. After the establishment of the land commission, both of these claims were presented to that tribunal for adjudication. Valentine put in some testimony which was thought to be rather damaging to the success of the Ortega claim, whereupon an agreement was made between the holders of these rival titles, providing that the testimony should be suppressed, the Miranda claim withdrawn, the Ortega claim pressed for confirmation and the proceeds of the sales of the lands covered by it divided between the contracting parties. The Miranda title was thus summarily disposed of by the act of its holder. To clear away the Ortega title by the slow machinery of the law, took several years. It was confirmed by the land commission, was twice before the United States District Court,—first confirmed, and afterwards rejected; and twice before the United States Supreme Court, where it was finally rejected in 1863. The land embraced within the limits of the rancho thus became public domain of the United States, and the government surveys were extended over it. That portion within the boundaries of the incorporated city of Petaluma was ceded to that city by Act of Congress of March 1, 1867, and the occupants of all the remainder obtained patents under the pre-emption law. Valentine beseiged the doors of Congress for many years to get an act passed allowing him to present his title to the courts for confirmation. Such a measure would have been a great injustice to the occupants of the land, for although the original title was undoubtedly genuine, and would have been confirmed, he prevented a confirmation by his voluntary withdrawal of it. He was finally satisfied by receiving from the government an issue of very valuable land-scrip for the same number of acres embraced within his grant. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH OF SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, BY ROBERT A. THOMPSON, EDITOR OF "THE SONOMA DEMOCRAT." PHILADELPHIA: L. H. EVERTS & CO. 1877. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sonoma/history/1877/historic/landtitl337nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 4.8 Kb