to make grants of them; and those who insisted that the land belonged
to the United States.

Early in 1850, after the State government was organized, the
Legislature incorporated the City of San Francisco; and, as is usual
with municipal bodies not restrained by the most stringent provisions,
it contracted more debts than its means warranted, and did not
always make provision for their payment at maturity. Numerous suits,
therefore, were instituted and judgments were recovered against the
city. Executions followed, which were levied upon the lands claimed by
her as successor of the _pueblo_. Where the occupants denied the
title of the city, they were generally indifferent to the sales by
the sheriff. Property of immense value, in some cases many acres in
extent, was, in consequence, often struck off to bidders at a merely
nominal price. Upon the deeds of the officer, suits in ejectment were
instituted in great numbers; and thus questions as to the existence
of the alleged _pueblo_, and whether, if existing, it had any right
to land, and the nature of such right, if any, were brought before
the lower courts; and, finally, in a test case--Hart vs. Burnett--they
found their way to the Supreme Court of the State. In the meantime a
large number of persons had become interested in these sales,
aside from the occupants of the land, and the greatest anxiety was
manifested as to the decision of the Court. Previous decisions on the
questions involved were not consistent; nor had they met the entire
approval of the profession, although, the opinion prevailed generally
that a Mexican pueblo of some kind, owning or having an interest in
lands, had existed on the site of the city upon the acquisition of the
country, and that such lands, like other property of the city not used
for public purposes, were vendible on execution.