Clark v. Hills

Citations

• 67 Tex. 141
• 2 S.W. 356
• 1886 Tex. LEXIS 628

Syllabus

<p>1. Acts of Officers of Former Government—Mexican Grant—Presumption.—The doctrine announced in Johns v. Schulz, 47 Texas, 578, that it will be presumed the acts of officers of a former government are within and not in excess of’their authority; that this presumption, in connection with an undisturbed possession of over forty years, more than twenty of which elapsed while the land to which such officers assumed to extend title was subject to the jurisdiction from which the grant emanated, are sufficient to establish prima facie the validity of a grant, followed.</p> <p>8. Jurisdiction — Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.—Though Texas claimed jurisdiction extending to the Rio Grande river as early as December 19, 1836, such jurisdiction was never admitted by Mexico until the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1818, and until 1848 the State of Chihuahua exercised jurisdiction over the territory of Texas bordering the upper Rio Grande, and embracing the city of El Paso.</p> <p>3. Confirmation of Mexican Grant.—The Act of February 11,1858, which relinquished all the right of the State in designated land on the Rio Grande river to Juan Maria Ponce de Leon, thereby intended to recognize the validity of the Mexican grant formerly made to him, and to pass all the title of the State as effectually as if it were making a grant de novo, and the State thereby confirmed the right and title of the grantee to the extent of the boundaries set forth in his title papers.</p> <p>4. Same.—The relinquishment of title declared by that Act was not limited or impaired by the second section of the Act requiring a survey to be made of the land.</p> <p>5. Burden of Proof.—The burden of proof remains on the party affirming a fact in support of his case, and does not change in any aspect of the cause, though the weight of evidence may shift from side to side according to the nature and strength of the proof offered in support or denial of the main fact to be established.</p> <p>6. Cases Approved.—Burnha