Sharp v. Blankenship

Thornton, J. Action of rejectment to recover a tract of land situated in San Joaquin County. Both parties claim under Charles M. Weber. The land in controversy was parcel of a rancho known as the Campo de los Franceses, of which Weber was the owner. The litigation is in regard to a boundary line between the plaintiff and defendant. The boundary line in controversy is the western line of plaintiff and the eastern of defendant.

[442]There was evidence tending to show that Weber had caused the rancho above named to be surveyed and subdivided into sections, the sections being sixty-nine (69) chains and seventy-two (72) links square, the side lines of the section being a little less than ten chains short of a mile, and that these sections were subdivided into four quarters, constituting four squares of equal area. There was also evidence tending to show that this boundary line in dispute was marked by stakes set in the ground when the survey of the rancho ivas made by Weber; that the boundary line in dispute was marked by .corner posts or stakes that were pointed out to Balch, the grantor of defendant, in 1858 by Weber. This appears to have been done in 1858 when Balch was negotiating with Weber for the land which was afterwards purchased by Balch of Weber, and this Weber conveyed to him. The evidence further tended to show that the western boundary line of plaintiff was marked by corner posts or stakes. There was no controversy that plaintiff owned the southeast quarter of section twenty-six, and that defendant owned the portion of the southwest quarter of same section, adjoining in its whole length on the west the southeast quarter.

The testimony also tended to show that soon after Balch went into possession in 1857, he built a fence from corner section post to corner section post on the west line of southeast quarter of section twenty-six; that it remained there until some time in 1877 or 1878, when a controversy arose between plaintiff and defendant as to the boundary line between them, defendant claiming that plaintiff had in his possession within the fence above mentioned some of his (defendant’s) land. This plaintiff denied, but averred that he did not wish to deprive defendant of any land owned by him. Under this state of things an arrangement was entered into between them by which a surveyor was employed to run the disputed line between them at their mutual expense. This appears to have been done, and the line as surveyed and run did show that plaintiff’s enclosure did contain land that was a part of southwest quarter of section twenty-six belonging to defendant. Plaintiff insisted that the line was not correctly run, was not ou the true line, and there was evidence to show that he never agreed to accept or adopt the line thus run as the true line.