Gervasoni

This action is one to quiet title to certain property in the city of Petaluma, to which the plaintiffs claim ownership in fee simple, but which title the defendant city of Petaluma denies, and further sets up an easement and right of way for passage through, over and across the said property as a public street. The trial court found in the main in the plaintiffs’ favor, adjudging them to be the owners of the frontage claimed by them upon Main Street in said city, but reserving to the city certain easements in the rear portion of the property covering what is known as “Water Street.” The defendants have appealed from the judgment.

As to the main facts in the case there is no material dispute. The city of Petaluma had its beginning during or possibly prior to the year 1850, when a number of settlers collected on the westerly side of Petaluma Creek, or river, at a point at or near the head of navigation of the said stream. The land at that point was unsurveyed and therefore unoccupied government land, the title to which was vested in the United States. A town grew up at this point, roadways and streets were located according to convenience and by user, and property occupied by the…