judgment a week later which created a lien against the estate. Jesse Smith had 

 also obtained a judgment against Randall, even before McMillan had, but failed 

 to record it until February 20, 1855. McMillan and Smith were also issued 

 deeds by the sheriff. And Randall, still alive at this point, mortgaged the 

 premises to William I. Shaw. 58 



It was Marin County Sheriff G. N. Vischer who had foreclosed the 

 property to each of the claimants, apparently pocketing the $2,000 he had 

 collected from them. The claimants, McMillan, Smith, Hyatt, Reynolds and 

 Richards, soon found that they had been conned by the sheriff. With the 

 exception of McMillan, the group hired a lawyer; the wealthy McMillan, 

 however, hired Shatter, Shafter, Park and Heydenfeldt, one of the most 

 respected law firms in San Francisco. The firm's senior partner, Oscar L. 

 Shafter, was a powerful figure in California title litigation. Historian Mason 

 wrote: 



McMillan was the only one with enough money to 

 clear Randall's property of the liens against it. His 

 attorney Shafter went to Sheriff Vischer's office twice 

 --first to ascertain what the hens were; again on 

 December 13, 1856, with the cash in hand. He 

 counted it out on the desk-$24,146.08-and told the 

 sheriff to deposit it in McMillan's bank "to save the 

 interest during litigation." The sheriff instead put it 

 in two banks of his own choosing. Indignantly Shafter 

 got out an injunction and impounded the funds. 

 Richards, Hyatt and the others took their case into 

 district court where they argued that McMillan and 

 Shafter by impounding the money were admitting 

 they had no intention of parting with it--that in 

 reality it had not been paid at all. The judge agreed 

 and found for Richards et al. Shafter prepared an 

 appeal to the state supreme court. 59 



As Richards, Hyatt, Reynolds and others lived on Point Reyes, McMillan sued in 



58 Ibid.. p. 27; Delos Lake, U.S. Attorney, District of California, to United States Lighthouse 

 Board, "The Title of O. L. Shafter, James McM. Shafter, and Charles Webb Howard to La Rancho 

 Punta de los Reyes Sobrante . . .", circa 1869, copy at Point Reyes National Seashore (hereinafter 

 cited as PRNS); Deeds Book B, pp. 69, 147, 179, 286, 300, Book C, p. 183, Book D, pp. 13, 15, 16, 

 18, 20, 28, 30, MCRO. 



59 Mason. Point Reves. p. 30-31. 



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