'< '/" /'<(,, « mm ■' ^'>''-' mw^^>'^^^ !j|;,t M' IM/M -1 « ^1 'i;»,tt;c Hfl ,1^11 % 63 A^3 (Snrnrll SJam Srljnnl Htbrarg Cornell University Library KFC 690.A83 Documents on (lie in the Office of the a 3 1924 024 621 371 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/cletails/cu31924024621371 CALIFOMJA Attorney General Report. 1868. Social Report. ^;LI Fog fJ/ft . (:rYrO ^^^ ^^^ ^ftf)Ci OPTICS. DOOTJMEISrTS OK PILE IS THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, RELATING TO THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN CALIFORNIA AND ARIZONA. B 7^2p:i D. W. GELWICKS STATE PKINTBR. DOCUMEN"TS, Attorney General's Office, } Sacramento, January 16th, 1868.) To the Sbnorahle the Assemhly of the State of California : In reply to the resolution of the Assembly of the State of California of this date, requiring the Attorney-General to communicate to you all petitions or other papers on file in his office, concerning any dispute as to the boundary between the Territory of Arizona and the State of Cal- ifornia, in the vicinity of Fort Yuma, I have the honor herewith to sub- mit copies of all the papers on file in this office upon the subject men- tioned in your resolution. I a,m, very respectfully, your obedient servant, JO HAMILTOI^, Attorney-General. State of California, ) „„ County of San Diego. James McCoy, being first duly sworh, says: That he is Sheriff of said county and has been for the last six years ; that upon a recent visit to Fort Yuma and its vicinity, he found posted there the annexed notice, marked (A), and also received from the persons therein named the annexed notices marked (B) and (C); that the said James O'Donnell and J. W. Jones, therein named, have always paid their taxes in said County of San Diego, together with other persons, as follows ; H. T. Stevens, merchant ; John Dow, agent Steam Navigation Company ; . Polhemus, Captain of steamer; A. S. Grant, Quartermaster's Clerk ; G. A. Johnson and Steam Navigation Company; and C. Arnabar, Physician. Said O'Donnell being a merchant, and said Jones a saluon keeper. Deponent, in bis visit, was accompanied by John S. Mclntyre, Assessor of said County of San Diego; and said James O'Donnell, J. W. Jones, H. T. Stevens and C. Arnabar have paid to deponent, as said Sheriff, their, taxes for the present year, in the belief that their ac.tual residence, with their property, is in said Countj'^ of San Diego. Deponent further says : The, residences and places of bu^ness of said taxpayers is upon a narrow strip of land upon the south side of the Col- orado River, lying between Pilot Knob and the junction of tha Gila and Colorado Rivers, which tract has always been treated by the officers of said county, whether for the purposes of taxation, or voting or other- wise, to be within the limits of the State of California, without contro- versy, until the late claim set up in the notice above referred to. Deponent has seen the monument established at Pilot Knob by the Boundary Commissioners under the treaty betw.een the United States and Mexico of eighteen hundred and forty-eight, as well as under the subsequent treaty for the Gadsden Purchase ; and in the year eighteen hundred and lifty-five deponent saw, on a gravelly hill, about four hun- dred yards opposite to Fort Yuma, and upon the Gila River, another monument, a straight line being drawn from which would strike thelnon- ument at the Pilot Knob, and would leave to the northward said strip of land upon which said taxpayers reside. Deponent has always under- stood, and so believes the fact to be, that said last mentioned monument is one of the landmarks of the old boundary between the State of Cali- fornia and Mexico. In the doubt now existing under said late claim as to the boundary between Yuma County, Arizona, and San Diego County, California, deponent, for, the safety of said taxpayers, and that injustice may not be done to them, has not paid the amount of taxes by him received as afore- said, being the aggregate sura of three hundred and seventy dollars and twentj' cents, and submits all the premises to the consideration and determination of the honorable Attorney-General of Califor.uia, praying that action thereupon, by such legal proceeding as may be adjudged nec- essaiy, may be had at an early day, for the better protection of said tax- payers, and for the interests of public revenue. Deponent further says: That the Federal taxes of said taxpayers have always been paid to the United States officers within said San Diego County, and said Arnabar, by deponent, has forwarded his said taxes to said officers; and deponent now has instructions from said O'Donnell, H. T. Stevens and J. W. Jones, to pay their Federal taxes at the. Town of San Diego, the distance from said town to Fort Yuma being about two hundred and fourteen miles. In addition to the sum of three hundred and seventy dollars and twenty cents so collected as aforesaid, a much larger amount for taxes will be due this year from the other persons hereinbefore named. Pilot Knob mx)nument is near the River Colorado, and distant seven miles from Fort Yuma. Between Fort Yuma and Pilot Knob, the river makes a bend to the north, JAMBS McCOY, Sheriff and Ex Officio Collector. ' * > Subscribed and sworn to before mo this thirteenth ( conntycourt ) ^^^^ °^ ^^7, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty- l Seal, Sftn >■ Seven. (^ Diego County, j ^ ^ PENDLETON, ' V • . County Clerk. (A.) To all persons interested : The undersigned, by virtue of the law and his official position as Sheriff and ex officio County Assessor of Yuma County, Arizona Terri- tory, deems it his duty to notify any and all persons doing business, and who hold in their name possession as agent, administrator, executor or otherwise, personal or real property, within the county boundaries of said county as described in the Hgwell Code, page 24, Chapter 2, entitled, " Of the Formation and Rights of Counties," to wit : The County of Yuma shall be bounded as follows : On the east, by the line of one hun- dred and thirteen degrees, twenty minutes, west longitude; on the ■ north, by the middfo of the main stream of the Santa Maria to its junc- .tion with Williams Fork; thence, by the middle of the main channel of said stream, to its junction with the Colorado River; on the west, by the main channel of the Colorado River; and on the south, by the Sonora line ; that he will proceed forthwith to assess the valuation of the aforesaid property, not exempt from taxation, as required by Chapter 33, Howell Code, entitled, " Of Finance and Taxation," to which reference is hereby made. Persons owning or having possession of any personal or real property aforesaid are required forthwith to deliver to the Asses- sor or his deputies a statement of their property early as possible, or the Assessor will jiroceed to make such assessment as he deems just and reasonable. M. i). DOBBINS, Sheriff and Ex Officio County Assessor, Yuma County. (B) La Paz, May 1-st, 1867. James O'Donnell, Esq : . \ Upon a full examination of the law a;nd the county boundaries of Yuma County, I find that all the property owned, claimed'or in your possession as agent,/ lying and being on this side, which is the east side of the .middle of the channel of the Colorado River, are within the limits of the county boundaries and therefore under the jurisdiction of the Courts and civil officers of the county. The fact of this being so renders it incumbent upon me to execute, as nearly as possible, my duties as Sheriff and ex officio County Assessor of Yuma County. I therefore request that you deliver to my deputy, Mr. Smith, a statement of your property, both real and personal, at your earliest convenience. Should you decline doing so, be kind enough to give your answer in writing. No doubt but that all parties have been advised by the best legal advisers in California. The only way to test and settle the matter is by adjudi- cating it. Let the Territory of Arizona and California foot the bill. To show you that I am right, examine Chapter 2, Section 1, page 24, Howell Code, entitled, " Of the Formation and Eights of Counties." Eespectfully, your obedient servant. P. S. — An agreed case could be gotten up which would make the expenses of a suit small. M. D. DOBBINS, Sheriff and Ex OflSeio County Assessor, Yuma County, Arizona. James O'Donnell, Arizona City, A. T. (C) J. W. Jones — La Eiiz, May 1st, 1867. Dear Sib, : Upon a fall examination of the law and the county boun- daries of Yuma County, I find that all the property owned and claimed, or in your possession as agent, etc., lying and being on this side, which is the east side of the middle of the channel of the Colorado Eiver, and within the limits of the county boundaries, and therefore under the jurisdiction of the Courts and the civil officers of the county. The fact of this being so renders it incumbent upon me to execute, as nearly as possible, my duties as Sheriff and ex officio County Assessor of Yuma County. I therefore request that you deliver to my deputy, Mr. Smith, a statement of j'our ^property, both real and personal, at your earliest convenience. Should you decline doing so, be kind enough to give your answer^ in writing. No doubt but that all parties have been advised by the best legal advisers in California. The only wa}' to settle and test the matter is by adjudication. Let the Territory of Arizona and Cali- fornia foot the bill. Permit me to refer you to .page 24, Chapter 2, Section 1, Howell Code, entitled " Of the Formation and Eights of Counties." An agreed case could be arranged which would make the expenses of the suit small. Eespectfully, your obedient servant, M. D. DOBBINS, Sheriff and Ex Officio County Assessor, Yuma County. City of San Diego, California, ") May 13th, 1867. j Hon. John G. McCullough, Attorney-General, State of California: Sir: The question mentioned in the accompanying affidavit of the Sheriff of San Diego County, having been by him referred to mc, as District Attorney, I beg leave to communicate the same to you for such consideration as you find it to require, briefly adding the reason that has led mo to advise the Sheriff to continue in the receipt of taxes tendered him by the persons he mentions. Califorijia was admitted into the Union with the boundaries established bj^ her State Constitution. Those, so far as concerns the present ques- tion, from the thirty-fifth pai'allel, followed " the middle of the channel of the Colorado River to the boundary line between the United States and Mexico, as established by the treaty of May thirtieth, eighteen hun- dred and forty-eight; thence running west and along said boundary line to the Pacific Ocean," etc. Article V of the treaty defined the boundary between Upper and Lower California as a straight line drawn from the middle of the Rio Gila, where it unites with the Colorado, to a point on the Pacific Ocean, distant one marine league due south of the southwest point of the Port of San Diego. Without referring to the maps of Com- missioner Weller, or of Commissioner Emory, the line above described is well designated on the maps entitled " General maps showing the counties explored and surveyed by the United States and Mexican Boundary Commission, in the years eighteen hundred and fifty, eighteen hundred and fifty-one, eighteen hundred and fifty-two, and eighteen hundred and fifty-three, under the direction of John R. Bartlett, United States Commissioner." This itself clearly indicating a narrow strip of land below the junction of the two rivers, and between the Colorado River and the Mexican boundary agreed upon by Article V of said treaty. It would seem that the boundary of California should be held at this day according to this old line, notwithstanding the subsequent surveys of the newly acquired terrritory immediately adjoining south of it, as shown by the maps of Comuiissiouors Weller and Emory. In this I may be mistaken; yet it does not appear that any great injury will result from the course taken by the Sheriff of San Diego. Probably assessments in Arizona Territory, and even the rate of taxa- tion, would be as high as in San Diego; and if in any degree otherwise, the question is capable of adjustment long before it may be necessary to place the moneys in the Treasury. It is indeed a matter of regret that the taxpayers, in the present situation of things, are liable to feel them- selves harassed bj' rival jurisdictions. With an apology for the length of my communication upon a matter that is entirely submitted to your opinion, I am, very respectfully, < BEJSrj. HAYES. 8 Attoeney-General's Office, ) Sacramento, May 24th, 1867. ) ' Benj. Hayes, Esq., District Attorney, San Diego : Dear Sir: I am in receipt of yours of the thirteenth instant, and inclosed documents, and have examined in the State Library such maps and surveys and reports as would throw light upon the question sub- mitted me, and that were available. The maps very generally show the disputed strip of territory south ot the Colorado to be within California. . ri tf ■ But the question is more difficult and may be thus stated : California was admitted into the Union with the boundary reading: "Thence down the-middle of the channel of said river (Colorado) to the boundary line Between the United States and Mexico, as established in the treaty of May thirtieth, eighteen hundred and forty-eight." That treaty lays down the boundary as " Thence down the middle of the said branch and of said river (Gila) until it empties into the Eio Colorado ; thence across the E'io Colorado, following the division line between Upper and Lower California to the Pacific Ocean ;" and in order to preclude all difficulty, '• it is agreed that the said limit (the limit separating Upper from Lower California) shall. consist of a straight line drawn from the middle of the Eio Gila, where it unites with the Colorado, to a point." — No doubt the point where the " middle" of the Gila empties into, or unites with, the Colorado, as specified in treaty, falls upon this side of the middle of the channel of the Colorado opposite to the mouth of the Gila, as specified in the Constitution. If it does, then the territory belongs to California. And whether it does or not, can be proven in a suit instituted for the recovery of taxes. Let a taxpayer in the disputed tract refuse to pay bis taxes and be sued, and set up defense that he is not within the juris- diction of the State of California, and let Arizona have full opportu- nity to be heard, and let our Courts decide. If Arizona should not be satisfied with the decision, she will not be bound by it; but,i I presume, the facts once ascertained, there will not be much doubt upon the law. This is as speedy a way to settle the matter as can be devised. Get the facts fully in your record, so that this Court can decide the question on its merits. The suit will have to be commenced in your Court, as the Supreme Court has not original jurisdiction of such actions. I am, very respectfully, J. G. McCULLOUGH, Attorney-General. AssEMBtY Chamber, ) SacHAMento City, December 18lh, 1867. j Hall HANi,ON,_Esq r Dear Sir : You will perceive from the papers I send you that 1 have called for information from the Attorney-General in reference to the dispute existing in reference to the boundary between Arizona Territory and the State of California in the vicinity of Fort Yuma. In this matter, it seems to me, the people living on the narrow strip claimed by Arizona ought to send a petition to the Legislature Tepre- senting all the facts within their knowledge, and their feelings and wishes on this subject. Tben I will be better able to frame some meas- ure to settle this question. * * * * * (Signed:) BENJAMIN HAYES. To the Honorable the. Legislature of the State of California : In accordance with the foregoing request of the Hon. Benjamin Hayes, we, the undersigned, residents of the State of California, and living upon said narrow strip of disputed territory, humbly petition your hon- orable body and respectfully represent : That said narrow strip of disputed territory lies entirely upon the east bank of the Rio Colorado, commencing at a point upon said river twenty* English miles below the junction of the Gila and Colorado Rivers; thence running up the middle channel of said' Colorado River to said junction with the said Gila — said strip being but a few hundred yards in width. That the number of inhabitants living thereon does Tiot reach one hundred souls. That a large and prosperous population exists upon the eastern side of an imaginary line, supposed by some to be the boundary line at said point between the State of California and the Territory of Arizona, and by others disputed, thereby creating much confusion -in the clashing of jurisdictions between the officers of the County of San Diego, in the State of California, and the County of Yuma, in the Territory of Ari- zona; and, as a consequence, conducive to crime and the open defiance of law. That legal measures have already been taken on the part of the offi- cers of the Territorj'- of Arizona and the County of Yuma in the same, claiming said disputed territory and the right of jurisdictiiin therein to enforce compliance with the laws of said Territory. . Therefore, your petitioners ask that said question may be speedily settled, and the right of civil and criminal jurisdiction conceded to the said Territory of Arizona. And your petitioners will ever pray. Dated at Arizona City, this twenty-second day of January, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-eight. H. T. STEUART & CO., JAMES O'DONNBLL, N. G. SNOW, J. W. JONES, A. J. KEEN, YMALIA PERRY, C. ARNABAR (M. D.), . E. D. TUTTLB, W. L. HOPKINS, ROBERT A. LOVELL, A. BOWMAN, HALL HANLON". 10 MEMOEIAL ASKING THAT THE TRACT Or LAND IN THE BEND OF THE COLORADO RIVER RIVER, OPPOSITE TORT YUMA, BE ATTACHED TO THE TERRI- TORY or ARIZONA. To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled : Tour memorialists, tbe Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Ari- zona, respectfully represent that by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, between the United States and the Republic of Mexico, ratified in eighteen hundred and forty-eight, the boundary line between the two Eepublics would consist of a straight line drawn from the middle of the Gila Eiver, where it unites with the Colorado, to a point on the coast of the Pacific Ocean distant one marine league south of the southernmost point of the Port of San Diego ; that in pursuance of said treaty the boundary line was run by the Commissioners appointed by the two Eepublics for that purpose; that in running tbe line according to the said treaty the said boundary line crossed tbe Eio Colorado twice through a northern bend of that tortuous river, by which means a tract of land consisting of about one hundred and fifty acres south of said bend was thrown into the limits of the United States, thus leaving a small portion of the territory of the United States beyond the Colorado Eiver, which separated it from every other portion of their territory. That when California was admitted into the Union as a State, in eigh- teen hundred and fifty, it was admitted with the same boundary on the south, as declared in her Constitution, that was specified in the said treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and run by the Commissioners aforesaid, the Eiver Colorado separating the small tract of land before specified from the remainder of the State. Your memorialists fufther represent, that the Organic Act of the Ter- ritory of Arizona, approved the twenty-fourth day of February, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-three, declared all that part of the Terri- tory of New Mexico situated west of a line running due south from the point where the southwest corner of the Territory of Colorado joins the northern boundary of the Territory of New Mexico to the southern boundary line of the Territory of New Mexico should be and was erected into a Territorial Government, to be called Arizona; that the boundary of New Mexico on tbe west, by the Organic Act creating that Territory, approved September ninth, eighteen hundred and fifty, was the bound- ary line of the State of California from the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude south to the point of the Colorado Eiver where said boundary begins, which was the line run by the Commissioners between the two Eepublics as aforesaid; that afterwards, by the Gadsden treaty of eighteen hundred and fifty-four, the southern portion of the Territory of Arizona was acquired from the Eepublic of Mexico, attached to New Mexico by an Act of Congress of the United States, and the boundary run and fixed by a Joint Commission of the two Eepublics, at an initial point on the Colorado twenty miles below the junction of Eiver Gila with the Colorado; by this means the western boundary of Arizona runs from the thirty-seventh degree of latitude tie whole length of the California boundary on the south, and beyond the line of that State on the Colorado Eiver; that said small tract of land lies just below the 11 junction of the Gila Eiver with the Colorado; that it is an important commercial point, and is the commercial landing place and business point for the Territory of Arizona on the Lower Colorado; that it is opposite Fort Yuma, and remote from any civil government organized in California; that there are no police and civil regulations there; that it is essential and important to Arizona to have said land annexed to its territory, for the purpose of forminj^ a landing place and a commercial town; that it is of little importance to the State of California and of vast consequence to Ai'izona to possess it; that if annexed to Arizona the benefits, of civil government would be immediately extended over it from Arizona City, which lies adjoining it on contiguous territory, sep- arated from it by an imaginary line, while the Colorado flows between the said tract of land and the other portions of the territory of the State of California ; Wherefore, your memorialists pray your honorable body to pass an Act by which the said tract of territory of the State of California, lying south of Port Yuma and the Colorado Eiver, and between the Colorado Eiver and the line of Arizona, be annexed to said Territory of Arizona, providing that the State of California;, by an Act of her Legislature, will relinquish all her right over said tract of land to the said Territory of Arizona. Resolved, That our Delegate in Congress is hereby requested to use all honorable means in his power to secure the passage of such Act. That His Excellency, the Governor of the Territory of Arizona, is hereby requested to transmit a copy of this memorial to our Delegate in Con- gress ; also a copy to the Governor of the State of California, with the request to forward such other information in his possession, in order that it may be laid before the Legislature of the State of California. Approved November third, eighteen hundred and sixty-four. Adopted again December thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five. JOINT EESOLUTIOJSr ASKING THAT THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN CALIFORNIA, NEVADA, UTAH COLORAIfO AND ARIZONA BE FIXED. Whereas, The settlements of Santa Clara and St. George, on the Eio Yirgin, contain a population of some two thousand inhabitants, and are now claimed and •submit to the jurisdiction of the Territory of Dtah; and Whereas, it is believed that said settlements are south of the thirty- seventh degree of north latitude, and within the Territory of Arizona; and Whereas, a small tract of land in the bend of the Colorado Eiver, opposite Fort Yuma, is claimed both by the Territory of Arizona and, the State of California^ and • Whereas, the rapid 'settlement of this Territory along and near its boundary lines, in connection with the known rich mineral and agricul- 12 tural wealth, make the question of jurisdiction one of delicacy and vexation, only to be obviated by speedily locating and making perma- nent such boundaries; therefore be it Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Arizona, First — That the Honorable John N. Goodwin, our Delegate in Con- gress, be and he is hereby respectfully requested to urge the Congress of the United States to appoint Ccframissioners to survey and fix the boundary lines between California,'Nevada, Utah and Colorado and the Territory of Arizona. Second — That a copy 6f these resolutions be forwarded by the Acting Governor to Honorable John JS". Goodwin, our Delegate in Congress. Approved December twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five. 1 111 I ( V I * j! I 11 / ^^m ..!■*.. r^rw,,'. ' ;. •J • 4 - t ' r .l'- .-.^.. /}^;:^:.«;iy S5?^P