ress from
Indiana, came to California and pretended to be a great friend of
the settlers. He obtained the confidence of that large class of
the community, and especially of those who were known as the Suscol
claimants. These were the men who, upon the rejection by the United
States Supreme Court of the so-called Suscol grant, in Napa and Solano
Counties, rushed in and squatted upon the most valuable land in the
State. The title to this land had previously been considered as good
as any in California; it had been held valid by the local tribunals,
and also by the Board of Land Commissioners and by the District Court
of the United States. On the strength of these confirmations the land
had been divided into farms, upon which, besides cultivated fields,
there were numerous orchards, vineyards, gardens, and two cities, each
of which had been the capital of the State. The farms and city lots
had been sold, in good faith, to purchasers at full value. But when
the question came before the United States Supreme Court, and
it appeared that the grant had been made to General Vallejo, in
consideration of military services, and for moneys advanced to the
Mexican government, and not for colonization purposes, it was
held that there was no authority under the Mexican laws for such a
disposition of the public domain, and that the grant was, therefore,
invalid. At the same time Judge Grier filed a dissenting opinion, in
which he expressed a hope that Congress would not allow those who
had purchased in good faith from Vallejo, and expended their money in
improving the land, to be deprived of it. Congress at once acted upon
the suggestion thus made and passed an act allowing the grantees of
Vallejo to purchase the lands occupied by them at a specified sum per
acre. Mr. John B. Frisbie, Vallejo's son-in-law, who had bought and
sold large quantities, took immediate steps to secure himself and his
grantees by purchasing the lands and obtaining patents for them.
In the meanwhile the squatters had located themselves all over the
property; most of them placing small shanties on the land in the
night-time, near the houses, gardens, and vineyards, and on cultivated
fields of the Vallejo grantees. They then filed claims in the Land
Office as pre-emptioners, under the general land laws of the United
States, and insisted that, as their settlements were previous to the
act of Congress, their rights to the land were secure. In this view
Julian, when