San Francisco City and County v. Le Roy

Citations

• 138 U.S. 656
• 11 S. Ct. 364
• 34 L. Ed. 1096
• 1891 U.S. LEXIS 2355

Syllabus

<p>The attorney of the city and county of San Francisco has no authority to relinquish rights reserved for the benefit of the public by the Van'Ness ordinance, the city and county having succeeded to the property and . become subject to the liabilities of the city.</p> <p>The confirmation of the pueblo lands to San Francisco was in trust for the benefit of'lot-liolders, under grants from the pueblo, town or city of San Francisco, or other competent authority, and, as to the residue, in trust for the benefit of the inhabitants of the city; and the title of the city rests upon the decree of the court, recognizing its title to the four square leagues and establishing their boundaries, and the confirmatory acts of • Congress.</p> <p>The exercise of this trust, as directed by' the Van Ness ordinance, was authorized both by the legislature ¡of the State and by act of the Congress of the United States.</p> <p>That ordinance having reserved from the grant all lands then occupied or set apart for public squares, streets and sites for school houses, city hall and other buildings belonging to the corporation, a decree in a suit against the city and county to quiet a title derived through the ordinance should except from its operation the lands thus reserved, unless the fáct that there were no such reservations be proved ‘in the case by the public records of the city and county..</p> <p>The swamp land act of 1850, 9 Stat. 519, c. 84, was not intended to apply tq. lands held by the United States, charged with equitable claims of others which- the United States were bound by treaty to protect, and consequently does not affect the pueblo lands which were acquired by the pueblo before its passage. •</p> <p>It is doubtful'whether there were any lands within the limits of the pueblo which could be considered to be tide-lands; but whether there were or not, the duty and the power of the United States under the treaty, 'tc. protect the- claims of the cV ' of San Francisco as successor