United States v. Certain Parcels of Land in Riverside County

(1) Introductory statement of the issues involved:

This opinion of the Court deals exclusively with the controversy raised at the pre-trial hearing commencing on January 30, 1946, and lasting seven court days, between the Government of the United States and the State of California, on the clarification of the issues presented by the Government’s amendment to complaints and amended complaints, filed December 20, 1945, in consolidated Action No. 754 O’C. Civil, and the answer of the State of California thereto, filed on January 8, 1946, to determine primarily, as a matter of fact and in law, on the oral and documentary evidence presented at the pre-trial hearing, the legal status of highways 77 and 192, within the Prado Flood Control Dam and Basin, as a result of the construction of Prado Dam, which was commenced in November of 1938, and was completed in April of 1941; and, corollarily, the interest of the State of California therein.

Hereinafter, for brevity, “Government” will refer to the United States, and “State” will refer to the State of California.

The Government contends that we are not dealing with State highways, but with county roads; that by deeds from the counties of…