Writ of error to the Supreme Court of the State of California
Holding
No title to land in California dependent upon Spanish or Mexican land grants can be of any validity unless presented to and confirmed by the board of land commissioners within the time prescribed by Congress.
The action was in the nature of ejectment, brought in the Superior Court of the Los Angeles County by Dominga Dominguez against Brigido Botiller and others, to recover possession of a tract of land situated in said county, known as 'Rancho Las Virgenes'. The title of the plaintiff was a grant claimed to have been made by the government of Mexico to Nemecio Dominguez and Domingo Carrillo, on October 1, 1834, but no claim under this grant had ever been presented for confirmation to the board of land commissioners, appointed under the California Land Act of 1851 (9 St. 631,) "to ascertain and settle the private land claims in the state of California", and no land patent had ever issued from the United States to any one for the land, or for any part of it.
The Court held that no title to land in California dependent upon Spanish or Mexican land grants can be of any validity unless presented to and confirmed by the board of land commissioners within the time prescribed by the United States Congress.
Tolley, H. B. (1983). "The Domestic Applicability of International Treaties in the United States". Revista Jurídica de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. 17: 403. ISSN0041-851X.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Rancho San Pedro was one of the first California land grants and the first to win a patent from the United States. The Spanish Crown granted the 75,000 acres (300 km2) of land to soldier Juan José Domínguez in 1784, with his descendants validating their legal claim with the Mexican government at 48,000 acres (190 km2) in 1828, and later maintaining their legal claim through a United States patent validating 43,119 acres (174.50 km2) in 1858. The original Spanish land grant included what today consists of the Pacific coast cities of Los Angeles harbor, San Pedro, the Palos Verdes peninsula, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Manhattan Beach, and east to the Los Angeles River, including the cities of Lomita, Gardena, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson, Compton, and western portions of Long Beach and Paramount.
The United States Court of Private Land Claims (1891–1904) was an ad-hoc court created to decide land claims guaranteed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in the territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, and in the states of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming.
The California Land Act of 1851, enacted following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established a three-member Public Land Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants. It required landowners who claimed title under the Mexican government to file their claim with a commission within two years. Contrary to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which guaranteed full protection of all property rights for Mexican citizens, it placed the burden on landholders to prove their title.
Rancho Las Vírgenes was a 17,760-acre (71.9 km2) land grant in the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, in present day western Los Angeles County, California. The lands of the Rancho Las Vírgenes included present day Agoura Hills, Oak Park, and Westlake Village and part of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Rancho Los Álamos y Agua Caliente was a 26,626-acre (107.75 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Kern County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico to Francisco Lopes, Luis Jordan and Vicente Botiller. The name means "Cottonwoods and Hot Springs Ranch" in Spanish. The native riparian Fremont Cottonwood (Populus fremontii) grow around natural springs. Rancho Los Álamos y Agua Caliente lay between two other Mexican Land Grants in the Tehachapi Mountains, Rancho El Tejon and Rancho Castac. The rancho is now a part of the 270,000 acres (1,093 km2) Tejon Ranch.
Rancho San Andrés was an 8,911-acre (36.06 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California, given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to José Joaquín Castro. The grant on Monterey Bay extended from La Selva Beach on the north to Watsonville Slough on the south. Rancho Aptos, belonging to Castro's son Rafael Castro, formed the north boundary of the grant.
Rancho Otay was a 6,658-acre (26.94 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day San Diego County, California, given in 1829 by Governor José María de Echeandía to Magdelena Estudillo. The grant in the present-day Otay Mesa area, extended along the Otay River, just west of Lower Otay Reservoir.
Rancho San Leandro was a 6,830-acre (27.6 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Alameda County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Joaquín Estudillo. The grant extended along the east San Francisco Bay from San Leandro Creek south to San Lorenzo Creek, and encompassed present-day San Leandro.
Rancho Nojoqui was a 13,284-acre (53.76 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Raimundo Carrillo. The grant was located in the Santa Ynez Valley and foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains, just south of present-day Solvang.
Rancho San Jacinto Viejo was a 35,503-acre (143.68 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given in 1842 by Governor Pro-tem Manuel Jimeno to José Antonio Estudillo. At the time of the US Patent, Rancho San Jacinto Viejo was a part of San Diego County. The County of Riverside was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino and San Diego Counties. The grant encompassed present-day Hemet and San Jacinto.
Rancho Sisquoc was a 35,486-acre (143.61 km2) Mexican land grant and current winery in the San Rafael Mountains region of present-day northeastern Santa Barbara County, California.
Rancho Guadalupe was a 43,682-acre (176.77 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day northwestern Santa Barbara County and southwestern San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1840 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Diego Olivera and Teodoro Arellanes. The grant extended along the Pacific coast, and encompassed present-day Guadalupe.
Rancho Punta de Laguna was a 26,648-acre (107.84 km2) Mexican land grant in present day northern Santa Barbara County, California, and southern San Luis Obispo County given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Luis Arellanes and Emigdio Miguel Ortega. The name of this rancho means "point of the lagoon" and refers to the irregular lake lying within its territory. The grant is east of Rancho Guadalupe and encompasses present day Santa Maria and Betteravia.
Rancho Los Capitancillos was a 3,360-acre (13.6 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Justo Larios. Los Capitancillos means the Little Captains in Spanish.
Rancho Cañada de los Capitancillos was a 1,110-acre (4.5 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Justo Larios. The name means the Valley of the Little Captains. The grant was south of present day San Jose and bounded on the west by the Guadalupe River.
Rancho Casmalia was a 8,841-acre (35.78 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Jose Maria del Carmen Domínguez and Antonio Olivera. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from Point Sal and Rancho Guadalupe on the north, through the Casmalia Hills to Shuman Canyon and Rancho Jesús María on the south, and encompasses present-day Casmalia.
Rancho San Joaquin was a 7,425-acre (30.05 km2) Mexican land grant in present day San Benito County, California given in 1836 by Governor Nicolás Gutiérrez to Cruz Cervantes. The grant was located north east of present day Hollister and was bounded on the north by Rancho Ausaymas y San Felipe, on the south by Rancho Santa Ana y Quien Sabe, on the west by Santa Ana Creek, and on the east by the hills.
Aboriginal title in California refers to the aboriginal title land rights of the indigenous peoples of California. The state is unique in that no Native American tribe in California is the counterparty to a ratified federal treaty. Therefore, all the Indian reservations in the state were created by federal statute or executive order.
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