Le Roy v. Dunkerly

Citations

• 54 Cal. 452

Syllabus

<p>Tide Lands — Military Reservation.—From the date of the treaty of 1848, the tide lands in California—unless they had been reserved by Mexico for military purposes, or otherwise disposed of by her—-were held by the United States in trust for the future State; and upon the admission of California the legal title thereto vested in the State.</p> <p>San Francisco — Beach and Water Lots. — The legal title of the City oí San Francisco, in the beach and water lots granted to her for the term of ninety-nine years, by the Act of March 25th, 1861, vested—by virtue of the deed of the Commissioners of the Sinking Bund, and the Act of May 1st, 1851, and by the acceptance by the city of the terms of that Act, and its consent to the transfer—in the Commissioners of the Funded Debt.</p> <p>Id.—Execution— Municipal Corporation—Equitable Estate.—In this State, all beneficial estates—whether legal or equitable—are liable to be taken on execution; and therefore, a purchase under an execution sale of the in, terest of the city in the beach:and water lots, and the Sheriff’s deed made in imrsuance thereof, operated as an assignment of the equitable estate remaining in the city after the legal title vested in the Commissioners of the Funded Debt.</p> <p>Id.—Trust—Deed of Trustee.—By the Act of April 2nd, 1866, the Commissioners of the Funded Debt were authorized, in certain cases—with the consent of the Board of Supervisors—to make conveyances of the trust lands; and they executed a deed to the plaintiffs, but whether with the consent oí the Supervisors, the record did not show. Held, 1st, that even if the deed was unauthorized by the trusts as originally defined in the Act of May 1st, 1851, or as modified by that of April 2nd, 1866, it operated to transfer to the grantees the legal estate, and the defendants—being mere intruders—could not assert the breach of trust as a defense to an action at law to recover the land; and 2nd, that the consent of the city was unnecessary, as the plaint