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Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, Circa 1852-1892

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Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, Circa 1852-1892 http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/hb109nb422 Online items available Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892 Finding Aid written by Michelle Morton and Marie Salta, with assistance from Dean C. Rowan and Randal Brandt The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 Phone: (510) 642-6481 Fax: (510) 642-7589 Email: [email protected] URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ © 2008 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892; BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM 1 Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892 Collection number: BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892; BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 Phone: (510) 642-6481 Fax: (510) 642-7589 Email: [email protected] URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ Finding Aid Author(s): Finding Aid written by Michelle Morton and Marie Salta, with assistance from Dean C. Rowan and Randal Brandt Date Completed: March 2008 Finding Aid Encoded By: GenX © 2015 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Collection Summary Collection Title: Documents pertaining to the adjudication of private land claims in California Date (inclusive): circa 1852-1892 Collection Number: BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892; BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM Creator: United States. District Court (California) Extent: Number of containers: 857 Cases. 876 PortfoliosLinear feet: Approximately 75Microfilm: 200 reels10 digital objects (1495 images) Repository: The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 Phone: (510) 642-6481 Fax: (510) 642-7589 Email: [email protected] URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ Abstract: In 1851 the U.S. Congress passed "An Act to Ascertain and Settle Private Land Claims in the State of California" which required all holders of Spanish and Mexican land grants to present their title for confirmation before the Board of California Land Commissioners. Land from titles not confirmed became part of the public domain. This Act placed the burden of proof of title on landholders and initiated a lengthy process of litigation that resulted in most Mexican Californians, or Californios, losing their titles. While 604 of the 813 claims brought before the Board were confirmed, most decisions were appealed to U.S. District Court and some on to U.S. Circuit Court and the Supreme Court. The confirmation process required lawyers, translators, and surveyors, and took an average of 17 years to resolve. The records of the District Court cases, the Land Case Files, were deposited on permanent loan in The Bancroft Library by the U.S. District Court in 1961. There are 857 total cases: Northern District Cases 1-458 and Southern District Cases 1-399 (see "Additional Notes on the Collection" for a note on case number discrepancies). Materials include transcripts, witness depositions, materials presented as evidence, and other legal documents. Most maps were transferred to the Map Collection of The Bancroft Library for separate cataloging (see: Maps of private land grant cases of California). Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English, Spanish Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. Access BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892; BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM 2 Portions of the collection are available on microfilm (see Container List). Please use microfilm when possible: BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM. Index to microfilm in Microfilm Binder 42. Publication Rights Materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html . Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, , circa 1852-1892, BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892; BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley Alternate Forms Available Portions of this collection are available on microfilm: BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM. Digital reproductions of selected cases are also available and linked to from this finding aid. Digital reproductions of diseños, plats, and surveys related to the Land Case Files are available through the Online Archive of California: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/hb8489p15p Spanish Archives National Archives, Cartographic Branch (RG 49.3.4 [BLM Records]) The Private Land Claims Division of the Cartographic Branch of the National Archives holds original expediente material from the Spanish Archives that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire. Microfilm of Related Land Case Collections in other Repositories California Private Land Claim Dockets (BANC MSS C-I 100 FILM) Cases or dockets brought before the California Board of Land Commissioners. Includes Docket Register and Old Index organized by docket number (1-621). 118 reels. Finding aid in Microfilm Binder 42, photocopy shelved with Bowman Indexes. Originals in National Archives. California Board of Land Commissioners Records) Journals (1851-1856), 4 reels (BANC MSS 70/27c FILM) Letterbook (1852-1855), 1 reel (BANC MSS 70/66c FILM) Petitions (1852-1854), 1 reel (BANC MSS 70/28c FILM) Decisions (1853-1856), 3 reels (BANC MSS 70/29c FILM) Evidence, 21 reels (BANC MSS 69/127c FILM) Maps, 1 reel (BANC MSS 69/97c FILM) Originals in National Archives California Land Grant Documents (BANC MSS C-I 87 FILM). Spanish Archives of California (8 vols. in Spanish, 8 vols. in English, 2 vols of maps, I vol. Toma de razón). Transcriptions and translations of title papers and land claims made from Spanish and Mexican Records in the U.S. Surveyor General's Office in San Francisco for the California Legislature. Created by Rufus Hopkins and John Clar between 1866 and 1871. Includes expedientes, títulos, tomas de razón, and diseños. Finding aid in Microfilm Binder 47. Originals in California State Archives. Libro donde se asientan los despachos de terrenos … (BANC MSS C-A 162 FILM) The "lost" Toma de Razón officially recording land grants by Mexican governors. Originals in California State Library. Private Land Case Files and Index (RG 21 FILM [T-1207]) Ninety-four private land cases from the Circuit Court of the Northern District of California (1852-1910), arranged numerically by case number. 28 reels. Originals in National Archives. Department of Justice Records (RG 60 FILM) Records of the Office of U.S. Attorney General relating to California land claims. 6 reels. Originals in National Archives. Related Manuscript Collections in the Bancroft Library BANC MSS Land Case Files 1852-1892; BANC MSS C-A 300 FILM 3 The following manuscript collections are directly related to land cases: California Land Miscellany (BANC MSS C-I 16) Deeds, agreements, notices, legal documents, and correspondence related to land tenure and the sale and transfer of property. While the largest collection is listed under BANC MSS C-I 16, other land materials can be found in the BANC MSS C-I call number range. Halleck, Peachy & Billings, 1852-1857 (BANC MSS C-B 421) A law firm involved in many land cases. This collection has an online finding aid: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf9r29p0xt J.N. Bowman papers regarding California history (BANC MSS C-R 18) Additions (BANC MSS 69/72 c) Bowman's research materials on land grants and California history. This collection has an online finding aid: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf8199n9np Robert Becker papers (BANC MSS 93/32 c) Becker research materials on land grants and surveyors. Carl William Calbreath papers (BANC MSS C-B 913) Papers relating to Calbreath's position as clerk at U.S. District Court and land grants. There are a number of other collections that contain related material: The Archives of California (BANC MSS C-A 1 - C-A 63) County Archives (BANC MSS C-A 64--C-A 76) Spanish and Mexican governors' papers: Pedro Fages (BANC MSS C-A 235) Fernando Rivera y Moncada (BANC MSS C-A 368) Felipe de Neve (BANC MSS C-A 178) José Joaquín de Arrillaga (BANC MSS C-A 236) José Darío Argüello (BANC MSS C-A 308) Pablo Vicente de Sola (BANC MSS C-A 237) Louis Antonio Argüello (BANC MSS C-A 309) José María de Echeandía (BANC MSS C-A 238) Manuel Victoria (BANC MSS C-A 243) José Figueroa (BANC MSS C-A 239) Juan Bautista Alvarado (BANC MSS C-A 240) Manuel Micheltorena (BANC MSS C-A 241) Pío Pico (BANC MSS C-A 242) Separated Material Most of the diseños, plats, and surveys associated with the Land Case Files have been transferred to the Map Collection of The Bancroft Library for separate cataloguing (see Maps of private land grant cases of California). The collection has an online finding aid: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/hb8489p15p Reference material Jacob N.
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