Upon the deeds of the officer, suits in ejectment were
instituted in great numbers; and thus questions as to the existence
of the alleged _pueblo_, and whether, if existing, it had any right
to land, and the nature of such right, if any, were brought before
the lower courts; and, finally, in a test case--Hart vs. Burnett--they
found their way to the Supreme Court of the State. In the meantime a
large number of persons had become interested in these sales,
aside from the occupants of the land, and the greatest anxiety was
manifested as to the decision of the Court. Previous decisions on the
questions involved were not consistent; nor had they met the entire
approval of the profession, although, the opinion prevailed generally
that a Mexican pueblo of some kind, owning or having an interest in
lands, had existed on the site of the city upon the acquisition of the
country, and that such lands, like other property of the city not used
for public purposes, were vendible on execution.
In 1855, after the sale in respect to which the test case was made,
the Council of the city passed "the Van Ness Ordinance," so called
from the name of its author, the object of which was to settle and
quiet, as far as practicable, the title of persons occupying land in
the city. It relinquished and granted the right and interest of the
city to lands within its corporate limits, as defined by the charter
of 1851, with certain exceptions, to parties in the actual possession
thereof, by themselves or tenants, on or before the first of January,
1855, if the possession were continued to the time of the introduction
of the ordinance into the Common Council in June of that year; or,
if interrupted by an intruder or trespasser, it had been or might be
recovered by legal process.
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