Dunkerly

The action is ejectment to recover possession of a block of land situated within the limits of the tract granted by the State to the City of San Francisco for the term of ninety-nine years, by the Act of March 26th, 1851. (Laws 1851, p. 307.)

It is claimed by appellant that the lands in controversy never became the property of the State of California, from whom plaintiffs pretend to dcraign title, but passed from the Mexican Government to that of the United States as part of a military reservation. The lands are covered by the waters of the Bay of San Francisco, and lie beyond the line of ordinary high tide. The bill of exceptions contains the following: “ It was admitted by the plaintiffs that Point San José, or Black Point, so called —the promontory—was occupied as a military post by the Mexican Government, and was so occupied at the time of the transfer of the fort to the Americans, and has continued to be so occupied down to the present time.” It was shown at the trial *455 that the demanded premises were within a circle of a radius of eight hundred yards, accepting the extremity of the promontory as the central point. On the last day of the year 1851, the then President of…