Petersen

The question presented on this appeal is whether or not the federal government has exclusive police jurisdiction over certain privately owned land situated entirely within the boundaries of Kings Canyon National Park.

In 1940, the Congress dedicated and set apart as a public park (Kings Canyon National Park) certain tracts of land within the boundaries of Tulare County, in the State of California. 16 U.S.C.A. § 80 . In 1943, California ceded to the United States exclusive jurisdiction over all the territory included in the tracts of land set aside and dedicated by the United States. California Statutes 1943, Chapter 96, Sec. 2. California Government Code Section 119. Thereafter, in 1945, the Secretary of the Interior of the United States accepted the cession and assumed police jurisdiction. 40 U.S.C.A. § 255 .

Within the park limits and entirely surrounded by the park acreage were some privately owned tracts of land known as Wilsonia Village" in which a number of persons owned private homes and in which appellants Petersen et al. owned and operated a tavern. The private owners were successors or grantees of one Daniel M. Perry, to whom, in 1891, the United States patented these…