“Apparently, one questionable land deal was enough California adventure for him.“
When the United States took control of California in 1848, it inherited a complicated patchwork of Spanish and Mexican land grants. The government had to determine which grants were legitimate and who actually owned the land.
One man made a particularly ambitious claim. José Limantour, a French-born merchant, said the Mexican government had granted him several properties around San Francisco, including Alcatraz Island.
And remarkably, his claim initially got somewhere. The U.S. Land Commission confirmed it in 1856 before the federal government challenged the documents. A court ultimately determined that the grants were fraudulent.
Limantour was arrested and released on bail, then returned to Mexico while the land cases were pending. He never came back to California, and his bail was eventually forfeited when he failed to appear for trial. Apparently, one questionable land deal was enough California adventure for him.
The claim was rejected, but Alcatraz went on to become one of the most famous pieces of real estate in America.
That’s what makes old property records so fascinating. A document that looks like an ordinary piece of paper can sometimes lead back to a famous place, an unbelievable claim, or a piece of history you never expected to find.
At Real Title Services, we see firsthand how much history can be hiding in the public record. Sometimes, it leads to a story about who really owned a piece of property in the first place.
Angela Sharp
0 Comments