cultivation, and other uses.

When the forces of the United States took possession of the city, the
alcaldes, holding under the Mexican government, were superseded by
persons appointed by our military or naval officers having command
of the place. With the increase of population which followed the
discovery of gold, these magistrates were besieged by applicants
for grants of land; and it was refreshing to see with what generous
liberality they disposed of lots in the city--a liberality not
infrequent when exercised with reference to other people's property.
Lots, varying in size from fifty to one hundred varas square, (a
measure nearly equal to our yard,) were given away as freely as they
were asked, only a small fee to meet necessary charges for preparing
and recording the transfers being demanded. Thus, for the lot occupied
by the Lick House, and worth now nearly a million, only a few dollars,
less I believe than twenty, were paid. And for the lot covered by the
Grand Hotel, admitted to be now worth half a million, less than
thirty-five dollars were paid.

The authority of the alcaldes to dispose of the lands was questioned
by many of the new immigrants, and the validity of their grants
denied. They asserted that the land was part of the public property
of the United States. Many holding these views gave evidence of the
earnestness of their convictions by immediately appropriating to
themselves as much vacant land in the city as they could conveniently
occupy. Disputes followed, as a matter of course, between claimants
under the alcalde grants and those holding as settlers, which often
gave rise to long and bitter litigation. The whole community was in
fact divided between those who asserted the existence of a _pueblo_
having a right to the lands mentioned, and the power of the alcaldes