United States v. Johnson

Mr. Wills, for the United States, contended that this deed was not properly proved by proof of the handwriting of the officers attesting it; that the signatures might be genuine, but the dates might be prior to the true ones; that the governor himself and his secretary should have been called; that the parties signing other deeds were not the parties described in them. He referred to decisions in this court and to local land history in Mexico, to show doubtful character in some of the witnesses in the case, and in a general way to infer fraud in some parts of the transaction; several of the objections made not having been taken in the court below, and being first made here. The title of Chaves is found among the archives. Its authenticity was not disputed before the commissioners or the District Court; but in this court the objection is first made that the handwriting of the public officers was proved, whereas the governor and secretary should have been called as the proper witnesses to authenticate their own acts.