Coast trade routes. However, sale of granted property was not allowed under 

 the terms of Berry's grant. On September 18, 1838, Snook wrote to Mariano 

 Guadalupe Vallejo, at that time Military Commander of the Northern Frontier, 

 for advice: 



You know that on the voyage past I bought from Don 

 James Berry 2 leagues of his rancho, situated on 

 Point Reyes . . . and the other day I put there 56 head 

 of cattle by Mr. Rafael Garcia, whom I am paying $12 

 per month . . ., but I do not have papers for the 

 rancho. I hope that you will be my counsel as to the 

 manner in which I can secure the necessary papers 



29 



Snook chose or was advised to denounce the portion of the grant he had 

 purchased from Berry. In this process a citizen could challenge the ownership 

 of property if the terms of the grant were unfulfilled; in Snook's case the 

 denouncement was based on the fact that Berry's grant was unoccupied, and 

 the denouncement was no doubt applied for with Berry's approval. In fact, 

 Berry probably would have lost the land entirely had the governor known that 

 he had illegally sold a portion of it. Snook won title to the 8,878 acres under a 

 ruling by the Mexican governor in June of 1839. As one historian interpreted 

 the transactions: 



Snook officially denounced the land he had unofficially 

 bought from Berry. Berry officially acceded to the 

 denouncement of the land he had unofficially sold to 

 Snook. In June of 1839, the land was officially 

 regranted to Snook, and Berry officially retained the 

 remainder of his land, with Snook's money unofficially 

 in his pocket. 30 



About 1837 Snook had built a small house at the northwestern corner of the 

 rectangular parcel (on today's Rogers Ranch) for his ranch foreman. Situated 

 on the north side of a small creek draining into Schooner Bay, the house was 



29 Joseph E. Snook, letter dated September 18, 1838, in Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe, 

 Documentos para la Historia de California, V, doc. no. 172, mss. at Bancroft Library, University of 

 California, Berkeley. 



30 Becker, Point Reves. p. 42. 



19 



