In 1854 squatters took possession of a lot in San Francisco at the corner of Third and Mission that belonged to Captain Joseph L. Folsom and there they built a squatter’s shanty that had three inch planks lining the interior walls. Because of their heavy fortifications Folsom decided it more prudent to buy them off rather than fight. Immediately after receiving money for leaving one of Folsom’s lots the group promptly moved onto another property belonging to him at the corner of First and Howard … [Read more...]
1853 San Francisco squatting dangerous
By 1853 squatting in San Francisco had become much more dangerous and far more frequent than ever before due to an extraordinary rise in real estate prices. While it never became as threatening as in Sacramento, where violent riots had occurred earlier, there were a number of bloody fights, some fatal. One of those deadly battles took place on July 20 when Redmond McCarty was ejected from a Mission Street lot that belonged to Rodman Price. After Deputy Sheriff John Freaner was sent to execute a … [Read more...]
Squatters in other parts of California
All around the San Francisco Bay, as well as in other parts of California where there were Mexican or Spanish land grants, squatters and squatter claims existed. In some cases the squatters were right while in others they were not intentionally wrong. The United States government encouraged and invited settlement on public lands and when there was a fair presumption that the lands settled on had not been part of a land grant there was some justification for the squatters to take possession. The … [Read more...]
Squatter claims in San Francisco
In a case where there could be no reasonable question as to the validity of John Sutter’s title, the claim of a squatter in Sacramento would not be more extravagant than one made in other parts of the state, especially San Francisco. Except for the built-up portions of the city squatting became, and for years continued to be, a very normal method for acquiring and holding land. Not only did men squat for themselves but they would actually squat on property for others. For twenty years a number … [Read more...]
Sheriff in search of squatters
The day after the gunfight with squatters in the streets of Sacramento Sheriff McKinney and about twenty men left town in search of squatters involved in the gun battle. They proceeded out past Sutter’s Fort and the Five Mile House to the Pavilion where they learned squatters were at a roadside drinking house two miles further called Allen’s. McKinney divided his men into six squads and ordered them to approach the saloon from different directions. When McKinney’s group arrived he dismounted … [Read more...]
Sacramento Squatters arrested
On August 13, 1849 James McClatchy was arrested with a man named Michael Moran for interfering with the sheriff in the attempt to execute a judgment of forcible entry and retainer from the Sacramento County Court against certain squatters. A justice of the peace ordered them held over to answer the charge and since they did not have the two thousand dollars bail they were jailed in the prison ship off Sacramento’s Embarcadero. The next morning as the sheriff executed another writ on Second … [Read more...]
Squatter resistance to Sutter
A squatter meeting was held at the Herkimer House on 4th Street on the evening of July 1st with the object of raising funds to make a combined resistance to all lawsuits brought to enforce the title of John Sutter to the land around Sacramento. Dr. Charles Robinson was chairman and he was particularly bitter against the city council, called the common council then, which he accused of legislating in favor of Sutter’s claim to the land which Robinson thought they clearly had no right to do. … [Read more...]
A squatter open to reason
Occasionally a squatter could be found who was open to reason as to who the land he had taken over really belonged. Much of the ground squatted on had been cultivated by John Sutter until his workmen left him in 1848 to mine for gold. A few days after the excitement engendered by the recent destruction of squatters’ shanties in Sacramento one man, working ground that had once been farmed by Sutter, was asked by what authority he expected to hold the land he was on. “By preoccupation and … [Read more...]
Squatter meetings continue
From that December 4th 1849 meeting until well near the end of summer in 1850 squatter meetings continued to be held in Sacramento and the squatters themselves grew more violent and angry. At first these meetings were considered as mere boasting but in time they began to have an effect. Sam Brannan owned a store on John Sutter’s land and as one of the most active and influential men of the day, along with many other capitalists and politicians, he was on the side of Sutter’s grant. Because of … [Read more...]
Ned McGowan tried
When Edward McGowan, indicted in San Francisco as an accessory before the fact to James Casey’s murder of James King of William, finally appeared in Sacramento he had the support of the Law and Order Party and was himself skilled at evading capture. After the killing he had hidden in San Francisco until June 27th when he slipped into San Mateo County and, by way of little used trails, made his way to the Refugio Rancho in Santa Barbara County on July 3rd. When news of his whereabouts reached the … [Read more...]
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