United States v. D'Aguirre

In The United States v. Fossat,1 this court decided that where there is no natural boundary or descriptive call for the termination of lines of a tract of land, and the quantity called for in the grant is 'one league of the larger size, a little more or less,' the survey must include only a league. The words 'a little more or less must be rejected.' It is also decided, in Yontz v. The United States,2 that the generality of the grant may be sustained by the words of the petition; that the petition and the concession must be taken as one act, and the extent of the grant limited by the prayer of the petition. In that case the grant was limited to the two leagues prayed for in the petition. Mr. Williams, contra: The papers in the case iterate and reiterate that the grant is for the surplus. There is not in one of them, except in the petition itself, which also is for the 'surplus,' an allusion to quantity; and the petitioner requests the Mexican government to take 'observations' previously to granting. Every part of the case shows also, that the government proceeded not less advisedly than it did in every case.