Letter... Communicating... Correspondence and Papers Relative to the Case of the United States vs. Vincent P. Gomez, involving the Claims to the Land called "Panoche Grande."
first edition
1869 · Washington
by Evarts, William M.
Washington, 1869 First edition. 40th Cong., 1st Session, Ex. Doc. 48. Pp. 32, 2, 196. Disbound, sewn. A very fine copy. This was one of the most important land claims to be settled in California. William McGarrahan, an Irish merchant, arrived in California in 1849, and soon established himself in business. After a visit home to Ireland, he returned to California in 1854, resumed his business and purchased a ranch in San Jose valley, which he stocked with the first improved herd in the state. In 1857 he purchased from Vicente P. Gomez the Mexican title to the Rancho Panoche Grande. However, the courts did not confirm this, and he was thus rendered legally incapable of expelling from his property the New Idria (Mercury) Mining Company, which was in reality squatting on his land. The New Idria Quicksilver Mining Company rivaled the New Almaden Mine in Santa Clara. The case went on for decades, and was not resolved until 1892, when the then septuagenarian McGarrahan found himself suddenly a multi-millionaire. While Cowan lists a number of items on this subject, this particular work is not noted.. (Inventory #: 8364)