﻿120 
  LAND 
  TITLES. 
  

  

  issued 
  by 
  the 
  governor 
  to 
  the 
  Surveyor-General 
  Don 
  

   Carlos 
  Trudeau, 
  to 
  cause 
  the 
  land 
  prayed 
  for 
  to 
  be 
  sur- 
  

   veyed 
  and 
  put 
  into 
  possession 
  of 
  the 
  petitioner. 
  This 
  

   duty 
  was 
  performed 
  by 
  the 
  deputy-surveyor 
  of 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   trict, 
  and 
  the 
  survey 
  being 
  approved 
  and 
  returned, 
  ac- 
  

   companied 
  by 
  a 
  plat, 
  the 
  governor 
  thereupon 
  granted 
  

   his 
  patent; 
  the 
  usual 
  fees 
  being 
  paid 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  stages 
  of 
  

   the 
  process 
  by 
  the 
  grantee. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  warrant 
  or 
  order 
  of 
  survey 
  was 
  issued 
  on 
  

   the 
  20th 
  of 
  April, 
  1784, 
  by 
  Don 
  Estevan 
  Miro, 
  who 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  to 
  officiate 
  as 
  governor, 
  and 
  to 
  make 
  grants 
  until 
  

   the 
  29th 
  of 
  August, 
  1791. 
  He 
  was 
  succeeded 
  by 
  Francis 
  

   Louis 
  Hector 
  El 
  Baron 
  de 
  Carondelet, 
  by 
  whom 
  grants 
  

   were 
  made 
  from 
  the 
  8th 
  of 
  March, 
  1792, 
  to 
  the 
  1st 
  of 
  

   September, 
  1795. 
  All 
  the 
  patents 
  bear 
  the 
  private 
  seal 
  

   with 
  the 
  coat 
  of 
  arms 
  of 
  the 
  governor, 
  and 
  are 
  counter- 
  

   signed 
  by 
  the 
  secretary 
  Andrez 
  Lopes 
  Armesto. 
  (See 
  

   Plate 
  II.) 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  been 
  objected 
  that 
  the 
  extension 
  of 
  the 
  limits 
  

   of 
  West 
  Florida, 
  by 
  the 
  British 
  government, 
  to 
  the 
  Ya- 
  

   zoo 
  River, 
  was 
  an 
  infringement 
  of 
  colonial 
  charters 
  or 
  

   grants 
  previously 
  made, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  titles 
  to 
  land 
  made 
  

   in 
  that 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  were 
  necessarily 
  void. 
  

   Spain, 
  also, 
  in 
  wresting 
  by 
  conquest 
  from 
  Great 
  Britain 
  

   the 
  same 
  territory, 
  not 
  truly 
  belonging 
  to 
  her, 
  acquired 
  

   no 
  title 
  thereto 
  to 
  the 
  prejudice 
  of 
  the 
  previous 
  and 
  

   rightful 
  holders; 
  the 
  Spanish 
  grants, 
  therefore, 
  to 
  the 
  

   same 
  extent, 
  were 
  equally 
  invalid. 
  

  

  This 
  position 
  was 
  subsequently 
  affirmed 
  by 
  the 
  deci- 
  

   sion 
  of 
  the 
  Supreme 
  Court 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  and 
  was 
  

   borne 
  out 
  and 
  admitted, 
  virtually, 
  in 
  the 
  treaty 
  of 
  peace 
  

   between 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  and 
  Great 
  Britain, 
  fixing 
  the 
  

   southern 
  boundary 
  of 
  the 
  independent 
  colonies 
  along 
  

   the 
  thirty-first 
  degree 
  of 
  north 
  latitude; 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  

  

  