While Oslo lived at Point Reyes beginning in 1843, he continued to work 

 in Monterey, as justice of the superior court from 1840 to 1845, as a substitute 

 congressman in 1843, as captain of the defenses in 1844, and as judge at San 

 Rafael in 1845. He had hired a "Spaniard" named Pakito as his major domo, 

 according to an 1880 account. After the American takeover in 1846, Osio moved 

 his family to Hawaii, then settled in Baja California. Osio mortgaged the 

 property to a man named G. W. Bird, then sold it to Andrew Randall in 1852. 

 Meanwhile, Smith sold his Berry ranch to cattleman Bethuel Phelps on 

 September 25, 1848, for $15,000. 35 



When California gained statehood and the first legislature created Marin 

 County in 1850, the new county government found nothing but confusion at 

 Point Reyes. Few of the landowners lived there and the true acreage of their 

 properties was unknown. Tax assessments of 1851 indicated that Osio owned 

 only two leagues, while his eleven leagues of the sobrante received no notice. 

 Berry's tract, transferred to Smith then sold to Phelps, was described as, "The 

 tract of land formerly owned by Berry containing six leagues owners unknown 

 lying between Punta Reyes and Garcia also running on said tract of land is 200 

 head of cattle belonging to said farm." The fact that Bethuel Phelps recorded 

 his purchase in Sonoma County may explain some of the confusion. 36 



E. Land Claims Under Scrutiny 



In 1851, the United States Congress passed an "Act to Ascertain and 

 Settle the Private Land Claims in the State of California" which created a 

 three-man Board of Land Commissioners, who were appointed by the President 

 to examine and determine the validity of the Spanish and Mexican land grants 

 in California. The Land Commission, which began hearings on January 2, 1852, 

 represented only a first legal step, as both sides~the land claimant and the 

 United States-had the right of appeal in the California District courts, and 

 when necessary, in the State's Supreme Court. As common practice, the United 

 States attorneys entered an appeal to the courts, extending the litigation and 

 making the average length of time between the initial petition to the Land 

 Commission and the final patent on the land seventeen years. 



35 Munro-Fraser, Marin County, p. 302. 

 36 Toogood, Civil History, pp. 69-70. 



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