discovery of gold brought, as already stated, an immense immigration
to the country. The slopes of the Sierra Nevada were traversed by many
of the immigrants in search of the precious metals, and by others the
tillable land was occupied for agricultural purposes. The title was in
the United States, and there had been no legislation by which it could
be acquired. Conflicting possessory claims naturally arose, and the
question was presented as to the law applicable to them. As I have
mentioned in my Narrative of Reminiscences, the Legislature in 1851
had provided that in suits before magistrates for mining claims,
evidence of the customs, usages, and regulations of miners in their
vicinage should be admissible, and, when not in conflict with the
Constitution and laws of the United States, should govern their decision,
and that the principle thus approved was soon applied in actions for
mining claims in all courts. In those cases it was considered that the
first possessor or appropriator of the claim had the better right as
against all parties except the government, and that he, and persons
claiming under him, were entitled to protection. This principle received
the entire concurrence of my associates, and was applied by us, in its
fullest extent, for the protection of all possessory rights on the
public lands. Thus, in Coryell vs. Cain, I said, speaking for the
court: "It is undoubtedly true, as a general rule, that the claimant
in ejectment must recover upon the strength of his own title, and
not upon the weakness of his adversary's, and that it is a sufficient
answer to his action to show title out of him and in a third party.
But this general rule has, in this State, from the anomalous condition
of things arising from the peculiar character of the mining and landed
interests of the country, been, to a certain extent, qualified and
limited. The larger portion of the mining lands within the State
belong to the United States, and yet that fact has never been
considered as a sufficient answer to the prosecution of actions for