It is in evidence that the place where the Quicksilver Mine, now called New Almaden, is wrought, has always been a noted spot. When the People of Reason, as the Spaniards distinguished themselves, first came to this country, they found there a cave which was a place of resort for all the neighboring little tribes of savages, who were attracted to it by a vermilion-colored earth which it contained, and with which they painted their bodies. The irritating effect of this mercurial pigment on their skins, was probably the cause why they regarded the cave as the habitation of a devil. They gave it the name of El Pulli, a designation in their own language of which the meaning is now unknown; and about its mouth they were in the habit of depositing a tribute, of such of their articles of value, as they thought best fitted to propitiate the Spirit that dwelt within. Afterwards, when the Indians round about the Mission of Santa Clara had been tamed by the Missionary Fathers, domesticated as Christians, and put to useful labor at the Mission, they were made to bring this earth from the cave and use it to paint the Mission church. In 1824, Antonio Suñol and the Chabollas endeavored to work the cave as a silver mine; judging from the weight of the stones which they got out of it, that they must contain that metal ; and for that purpose they erected a mill on a stream near by, and obtained a flask of quicksilver from San Luis Obispo; and again, about ten years later, the Chabollas renewed the attempt. In 1845, Andres Castillero, a captain in the Mexican regular army, happened to be in this Department, on the public service, as a Special Commissioner from the Central Government at Mexico. A ranchero of the vicinity, one Chato Robles, called his attention to this spot, so well known from the earliest tradi tions, and he now appears in this RECORD prosecuting a claim for it, singularly made up in three parts. They are— 1st.-A discovery of a mine of cinnabar; a denouncement of the same, and a concession of three thousand varas in all directions from the mouth of the mine, given by Antonio Maria Pico, Alcalde of San Jose de Guadalupe, in the year 1845. 2d. An approval of the concession of the Alcalde, accorded by the "Junta de Fomento y Administrativa de Mineria," the highest mining tribunal in the Republic of Mexico, and also by the President of the Republic, in the month of May of the year 1846. 3d.-A grant of two leagues of land, on the surface of that concession, made by the President in the same decree by which he gave his said approval in May, 1846. The prayer of his petition is in these words: "To confirm to him the aforesaid tract of TWO SQUARE LEAGUES OF LAND as embraced in his mining possession and grant as aforesaid, and described in the accompanying surveys and maps." The allegations as to the proceedings touching the mining privilege, are all matters of inducement to the grant of the said two square leagues of land. The language of the petition excludes the idea of presenting a mining right as a distinct title and subject matter to be adjudicated. (See printed Transcript, pages 6 and 7.) The only question presented by the petitioner to this Court for its decision, is whether the claimant has a valid title under his alleged grant of two square leagues of land by the President of Mexico. But Counsel, in argument before the Board of United States Land Commissioners, considered the petition of the claimant as presenting two distinct claims, and separate titles ; and the Board adopted the same view and so considered the case in their opinions. These titles are altogether different in their nature, and derived under two distinct systems of law, between which there exists no connection-even the most remote; nor were they ever before combined in the support of one and the same demand. The one is a title to the mine under the Mining Laws of Mexico, a very ancient and peculiar body of laws, as we shall presently see. The other, a title to two leagues of land under the Mexican colonization law of 1824, a novel creation of a Republican Congress. The Counsel of the claimant and the Board were clearly in error in considering this case as double. I propose, however, to follow the argument of Counsel as he has offered it. PETITION. To the Honorable Commissioners to settle Private Land Claims in California: The petitioner, Andres Castillero, respectfully shows: That in the year 1845, the petitioner, Andres Castillero, discovered a mine of cinnabar in the then jurisdiction of San Jose, and in the now county of Santa Clara, in this State. That having formed a Company for working said mine, he, on the 22d day of November, and on the 3d day of December, A. D. 1845, denounced said mine, and on the 30th day of December, A. D. 1845, received from the magistrate of that jurisdiction, in due form, the juridical possession of said mine, and land to the extent of three thousand varas in all directions: all of which is shown by the duly authenticated papers, issued from the office of said magistrate, copies of which are submitted herewith, marked "A," with translations marked "B." That said record of testimony of his mining possession was soon after submitted to the Junta de Fomento y Administracion de Mineria, the highest mining tribunal in the Republic of Mexico; which tribunal, after mature deliberation, and an examination of the laws relative thereto, on the 14th day of May, A. D. 1846, declared said juridical possession, although embracing an unusually large extent of land, to be in accordance to law, and fully justified by the peculiar circumstances of the case, and they therefore recommended to the Executive power of the Republic, through the Minister of Justice, not only that the mining possession of three thousand varas in all directions from the mouth of the mine, be confirmed, but that the Executive should also grant in fee to the said Castillero, for the benefit of his mine, two square leagues of land on the surface of his mining possession. That on the 20th day of May, A. D. 1846, the Minister of Justice replied to the President of the "Junta de Mineria," that the President of the Republic had acceded to the recommenda'tions of the Junta and the Petition of Castillero, and granted the land so asked for, and so recommended. That on the same day the Minister of Justice officially notified the Minister of Exterior Relations, Government and Police, of the aforesaid grant of the President of the Republic, in order that the corresponding decree or order might be issued; all of which is fully shown by the duly attested documents issued from the corresponding offices in Mexico; copies. of which, and also copies of the duly authenticated certificates of the Minister of Interior and Exterior Relations, and of the Secretary of the Mining Tribunal, that the aforesaid grant of land to the petitioner, Castillero, was legal and approved by the Supreme Government, are submitted herewith, marked "C" with translations marked "D." That on the 23d day of May, A. D. 1846, the Minister of Exterior Relations, Government and Police, issued his order to the Governor of California, notifying him of the aforesaid grant to Castillero, and directing the said Governor to put Castillero in possession of the two square leagues so granted; a copy of which order or patent of title is submitted herewith, marked "E" with a translation marked "F" That the said Castillero, immediately on receiving the aforesaid grant from the Government of Mexico, started for California for the purpose of measuring off and taking the juridical possession of the land so granted, but was prevented from so doing and interrupted in his journey by the operations of the war which was then commencing between the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico; he however still continued by his agents and servants in the occupation of the land of his mining possession; and in the latter part of the year 1847, or the beginning of the year 1848, and as soon as the operations of war between the two nations would permit, he procured a survey of the land so granted, and marked out its boundaries; a copy of which notes of survey, dated March 7th, 1848, and a plot of the land, made and executed by Chester S. Lyman, a duly appointed and authorized Surveyor of the Middle Department of California, copies of which notes of survey and plot are submitted herewith, marked "G." And the petitioner further shows: that the said survey was made with as much formality as was possible, and by the most skillful and competent officer to be procured in the then peculiar state of the country, and under the then organized de facto government of California; that in order to avoid all questions of boundary with the claimants of the neighboring lands, the agents of Castillero and those holding under him, in making the said survey and marking the boundaries of his grant as aforesaid, so located it on their then mining possession which had been given to Castillero in 1845, and duly approved as aforesaid, as to leave the mouth of the quicksilver mine, now called "New Almaden," in the center, or nearly so, of said grant so located, and to include little or no land on the side next the claimants of neighboring lands, but, on the contrary, to leave out a considerable portion of land, included in the said juridical possession, on the side next such claimants; this being done to avoid all dispute respecting boundaries; all of which is shown by the plot submitted herewith, marked "H." That the said tract of land has not been surveyed by the Surveyor-General of the United States, but that it was duly surveyed, and its boundaries marked in the year 1848, as aforesaid; that these boundaries are well known, and that the land within them has been in the possession of, and occupied by, the said Castillero, his agents, and those holding under him, since the year 1845, by judicial authority, and since the month of May, 1846, by virtue of a title in fee. That the rights acquired under said denouncement and juridical possession have continued uninterrupted until the present time, and now are vested solely and wholly in the petitioner, Castillero, and those holding under him; that by the working of the mine from its denouncement, as aforesaid, he acquired, by the laws of Mexico, a perfect title to the minerals of said mine, and a perfect right to use the said land for said mining purposes, even if he had no title in fee to the land itself; but he avers and has shown that such title in fee absolute was conveyed to him by the grant aforesaid on the 20th day of May, 1846. That since the petitioner took possession of said mine and tract of land in the year 1845, and more particularly since he received the said grant in fee in the month of May, 1846, he and his associates holding under him, have expended immense sums of money in working said mine, and in improving said land, in constructing roads, opening quarries, erecting lime kilns, furnaces, smelting works, machinery, store-houses, and other costly works of permanent utility, viz: from December, 1845, to the first day of May, 1852, the sum of $978,114 11-100. And the petitioner relies for confirmation of title upon the original documents, copies of which are transmitted herewith; and upon such other and further proofs as they may be advised are necessary. Wherefore the said Castillero prays this Honorable Board of Commissioners to confirm to him the aforesaid tract of two square leagues of land, as embraced in his mining possession and grant as aforesaid, and described in the accompanying surveys and maps. By his Attorneys, Filed in Office Sept. 30th, 1852. (Transcript, page 5.) HALLECK, PEACHY & BILLINGS. |