More v. Garcia

By the Court, Rhodes, J.: In Teschemaker v. Thompson, 18 Cal. 11, it was admitted that the patent of the United States to the plaintiffs embraced the lands in controversy; and the lands in dispute in Ward v. Mulford, 32 Cal. 365, were within the lines of the survey, and were embraced by the patent from the United States. Were that the position of the lands in dispute in this case^ the authority of those cases would be decisive of this. But the question here is, whether the lands in controversy—that is to say, the lands below the line of ordinary high tide of the Pacific Ocean—are embraced within the patent. When the patent was offered in evidence, the defendants objected to its admission on the following grounds : “ That the patent; on its face, did not purport to grant to Hill any right or title below the line of high water mark on the sea shore; that, for the purposes of this action, it is immaterial and irrelevant as proof, except as to sustain title to that portion of the premises above the line of high water mark.” The patent recites the decree of confirmation of the Board of Land Commissioners and of the District Court of the Southern District of California, in which the land is described as “ bounded on the south by the sea shore, on the north by the foot of the ledge of mountains,” etc.; and recites, also, the plat and certificate of survey of the Surveyor General for California, in which he certifies that the tract of land confirmed to the claimant is bounded and described as therein stated. The portion of the survey material to the question before us is as follows: “ Thence, fourth, south sixty-four degrees, thirty minutes west, fifteen chains to main sea shore * * * ; thence, fifth, south seventy-six degrees forty-five minutes east, along sea beach twenty-eight chains to station; thence, sixth, south eighty-nine degrees thirty minutes east, to station; thence, seventh, south eighty-eight degrees thirty minutes east, twenty-nine chains to station; thence, eighth, north eighty-three degrees thirty minutes east, fifteen chains and thirty-seven links to Asphaltum Spring Station; thence. [436]ninth, north fifty-nine degrees thirty minutes east, fifteen chains to station; thence, tenth, north eighty-eight degrees east, thirty-four chains to station; thence, eleventh, south eighty-four degrees fifteen minutes east, at thirty-eight chains ascends bluff thirty-nine chains fifty-five links to a redwood post marked G- So. 2, for course second station; thence, twelfth, north leaving sea shore and over gently rolling land,” etc. The patent grants “the tract of land embraced and described in the foregoing survey.”