Hostetter v. Los Angeles Terminal Railway Co.

Garoutte, J. This is an action in the nature of ejectment to recover the possession of a certain tract of land one hundred feet in width and nineteen hundred and thirty-six feet in length, situated within the boundary lines of the city of Los Angeles. It is conceded that in the year 1868 the city of Los Angeles had the title to the realty, and plaintiff claims title as successor in interest of the grantees of the city. The city conveyed certain lands to plaintiff’s predecessors in interest, and he now claims that those deeds carried the city’s title to the property involved in this litigation, and it is upon the construction of such deeds that the merits of the present case depend.

The first deed grants, conveys, and quitclaims unto Thomas Rowan that certain piece or parcel of land situated, lying, and being in the city and county of Los Angeles, and known on the official map of said city as fractional lot No. 6 (six), in block No. 57 (fifty-seven), of Hancock survey of said city, containing 7.25 (seven and twenty-five one hundredths) acres of land. The second deed grants, conveys, and quitclaims unto Pru[41]dent Beaudry that certain piece or parcel of land situate, lying, and being in the city and county of Los Angeles, and known on the official map of said city as lot No. 1 (one), in block No. 57 (fifty-seven), containing 24.77 (twenty-four and seventy-seven one hundredths) acres. That portion of the official map of the city of Los Angeles relating to the lots in dispute may be fairly illustrated by the following diagram:

This land lies upon the east side of the Los Angeles river, and the river at high water is confined upon the «east side by a precipitous bank some hundred feet in height. The river here, in flood time, is wide in extent and lessens as summer advances; and the w'idth of the river bed or bottom varies with the seasons and the amount of rainfall. At the date of the city’s deeds the official width of the river-bed had been -established, and by those lines the strip of land here involved lay between the high bank or bluff and the east line of the official bed. In other words, this land forms that part of the actual river bed or bottom lying [42]east of its official bed. Plaintiff now claims that the city, by these deeds, sold the land to the east line of the official bed. The defendant claims that it only sold the land to the high bluff or bank. The description contained in the deeds from the city is made by reference by block and number to the official map, but upon an inspection of that map it is not at all plain as to the exact boundary lines of the respective tracts conveyed.