Santa Clara County, CA History Transcribed by Kathy Sedler This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter. All persons donating to this site retain the rights to their own work. Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888. COUNTY GOVERNMENT. The county government was at first administered by the Court of Sessions, which held jurisdiction until 1852, when the Board of Supervisors was created. In 1854 the government again went into the hands of the Court of Sessions, where it remained until the next year, when the Board of Supervisors was revived, and has administered the affairs of the county ever since. Thus far we have as nearly as possible followed the history of Santa Clara County in chronological order; but in order to facilitate reference we shall henceforward treat each subject separately. Following is a list of those who have administered the government of the county from the date of its organization to the present time: On the first day of June, 1850, the Court of Sessions was organized, with J. W. Redmon, President, and Caswell Davis and H. C. Smith, Associate Justices. July 5�J. W. Redmon, President; John Gilroy, Caswell Davis, Associates. August 18�J. W. Redmon, President; Charles Clayton and Caswell Davis, Associates. October 6, 1851�J. W. Redmon, President; R. B. Buckner and Marcus Williams, Associates. December, 1851�J. W. Redmon, President; Cyrus G. Sanders and Marcus Williams, Associates. May 14, .1852�J. W. Redmon, President; Peleg Rush and Cyrus G. Sanders, Associates. An election for Supervisors was held June 3, 1852, and in July, 1852, the new Board was organized as follows: Isaac N. Senter, Chairman ; Fred E. Whitney, William E. Taylor, Jacob Gruwell, Associates. December 6, 1852�L. W. Bascom, Chairman; John B. Allen, A. M. Church, Levi Goodrich, Joseph C. Boyd, Associates. September 7, 1853�George Peck, Chairman; Daniel Murphy, R. G. Moody, William Daniels, W. Gallimore, Associates. In April, 1854, the Court of Sessions again took charge, being composed as follows: R. B. Buckner, President; Caswell Davis, Thomas L. Vermuele, Associates. October 1, 1854�R. B. Buckner, President; Caswell Davis, C. G. Thomas, Associates. On April 9, 1855, another Board of Supervisors was elected. The organization of the Board from that time has been as follows: April, 1855, to November, 1855�Samuel Henderson, William R. Bassham, Daniel Murphy. From November, 1855, to November, 1856�William R. Bassham, William R. Bane, Samuel Morrison. From November, 1856, to October, 1857�Cary Peebels, China Smith and D. R. Douglas. From October, 1857, to October, 1858�Joseph H. Kincaid, Samuel A. Ballard, Albert Warthen. From October, 1857, to November, 1859�John M. Swinford, H. D. Coon, Eli Jones; Isaac Branham served vice Jones. From November, 1859, to December, 1860�H. D. Coon, H. J. Bradley, Isaac Branham. From December, 1860, to October, 1861�H. J. Bradley, William M. Williamson, H. D. Coon. From October, 1861, to November, 1862�H. J. Bradley, William M. Williamson, J. H. Adams. From November, 1862, to March, 1864�William M. Williamson, J. H. Adams, S. S. Johnson. From March, 1864, to March, 1866�John A. Quinby, Chapman Yates, L. Robinson, J. A. Perkins, Frank Sleeper. From March, 1866, to March, 1868�John A. Quinby, Frank Sleeper, John A. Perkins, J. Q. A. Ballou, John Cook. From March, 1868, to March, 1870�David Campbell, John Cook, William H. Hall, W. H. Patton, Oliver Cottle. (Cottle served vice Ballou, who resigned.) From March, 1870, to March, 1872�David Campbell, William H. Hall, W. H. Patton, J. M. Battee, Samuel I. Jamison. From March, 1872, to March, 1874�J. M. Battee, William Paul, W. N. Furlong, S. I. Jamison, J. W. Boulware. From March, 1874, to March, 1876�J. M. Battee, William N. Furlong, J. W. Boulware, Alfred Chew, William Paul, A. King, H. M. Leonard. From March, 1876, to March, 1878�S. F. Ayer, J. M. Battee, Alfred Chew, W. N. Furlong, A. King, H. M. Leonard, W. H. Rogers. From March, 1878, to March, 1880�S. F. Ayer, W. H. Rogers, W. N. Furlong, John Weathers, J. H. M. Townsend, M. D. Kell, H. M. Leonard. (Townsend resigned December, 1879, and was succeeded by James Snow.) From March, 1880, to February, 1883�S. F. Ayer, John Weathers, James Snow, M. D. Kell, H. M. Leonard, H. H. Main, Samuel Rea. From February, 1883-1885�W. E. Ward, H. Tillotson, W. O. Watson, H. McCleary, Peter Donnelly, H. H. Main, S. A. Blythe. From March, 1885, to March, 1887�S. F. Ayer, W. A. Z. Edwards, A. Greninger, P. Donnelly, W. O. Watson. From March, 1887, to 1888�S. F. Ayer, W. A. Z. Edwards, A. Greninger, W. O. Watson, James Phegley. Following are the dates at which the several townships in the county were first organized: Almaden, 1850; Alviso, 1850; Burnett, 1850; Fremont, 1850; Gilroy, 1850; Milpitas, 1861; Redwood, 1850; San Jose, 1850; Santa Clara, 1850. LAND TITLES. As to the titles by which real property is held in this county, while a detailed statement of all the technicalities through which they have passed would be out of place in a work of this kind, a general review may not be uninteresting or unprofitable. By the treaty with Mexico by which California was ceded to the United States, it was provided that private ownership in lands should be respected, in other words, that the agreements which the Government of Mexico had made with its subjects in reference to acquiring title to lands should be carried out by the United States. The Mexican Government had been liberal in granting its territory to private persons, but it prescribed certain formalities to be performed before a complete title vested in the grantee. These conditions were, briefly, as follows:� The party asking a grant of lands must present a petition to the Governor, stating that the applicant is a citizen, the head of a family, and that he is in need of grazing lands, having flocks and herds to maintain. It must contain a general description of the tract he desires, and be accompanied by a map or sketch called a deseno. The petition when received by the Governor was by him referred to the Alcalde, or some other like inferior officer having jurisdiction nearest the land of which the grant was asked. This reference was generally made by a footnote, or marginal order, directing the referee to inform himself in regard to the facts set forth in the petition, whether it would interfere with the rights of other parties to whom grants had previously been made, whether the interests of the government would be injured or jeopardized by complying with the petition, and such other information as he might deem important, and to report upon it. Upon receiving the report of the Alcalde, if it contained no objection, the Governor made what is called a "provisional grant." The descriptions in these provisional grants were, usually, very meager, and frequently referred to the petition and deseno to help them out. Frequently the grant was made of a certain number of leagues within generally described exterior boundaries, and out of this originated many of the frauds which resulted in the getting of many more leagues than was intended to be granted by the government. The grant was either of a grazing right or in absolute property. It properly should, and generally did, contain a provision to the effect that it should be presented to the Territorial Departmental Assembly, which was the legislative body, of the territory of Alta California, sitting at Monterey, for approval. It also provided that what is called " juridical possession" should be given. To this effect an order was generally made to some inferior officer, an Alcalde or prefect, or, in earlier days, to some inferior military officer, directing him to go, with assisting witnesses, upon the land and put the grantee in actual possession. The grant, however, was considered provisional or incomplete until it was presented to the Departmental Assembly and approved by that body. If all these formalities were strictly complied with, the boundaries defined and marked out, and it was not within the exterior boundaries of prior concessions or reservations, it was called a perfect or complete title as contradistinguished from a provisional or inchoate title. At the time of the cession of California there was probably not a perfect or complete title in the whole territory of Alta California. Under the terms of the treaty, however, the holders of these incomplete titles were to be permitted to go on and complete them under the laws of the United States. After the acquisition of California, and after ascertaining the inchoate condition of the land grants and the importance of having them segregated from the public domain, and for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, an act was passed by the Congress of the United States on the third of March, 1851, providing for commissioners to be appointed by the President for the purpose of ascertaining and settling private land grants in California, with a right of appeal, by either the government or claimant, to the United States District Court for the State of California, or to the United States Supreme Court. To this commission all claimants were required to present their petitions for confirmation of their claims. Failure to so present them within a specified time after the passage of the act worked a forfeiture of the claim, which was thereafter treated as part of the public domain. Upon these claims being confirmed by these various tribunals, surveys were made by the Surveyor-General and patents issued thereon. Those lands which had not been granted by the Mexican Government were subject to the laws of the United States governing the disposition of the public domain. Besides these two classes of lands there was a third, that is, the lands granted to pueblos. Under the plan of Tepic, on the formation of each new pueblo in the New World, it was entitled, for its own use, for building purposes and for cultivation and pasturage, to a square of land extending one league in each direction from the center of the plaza, making in all four square leagues. Where the topography of the country, either by reason of the juxtaposition of the sea or of mountain barriers, prevented the land being taken in the form of a square, the four leagues were taken in some other form so as to include the pueblo. On the settlement of the pueblo of San Jose, the Mission of Santa Clara having been established to the west, the Mission of San Jose to the north and east, and the Mission of San Juan to the south, it became necessary to designate the boundaries so that the jurisdiction of the pueblo and the adjoining missions would not conflict. From year to year the old inhabitants of the pueblo, in company with the younger persons in the community, were accustomed to go out and visit the monuments erected to designate these lines, and to cast additional stones upon them to keep them intact. The delimiting line between the pueblo and the Mission of San Jose ran from the mountains to the bay, about midway between Warm Springs and the present town of Milpitas. On the west (resulting from the settlement of a controversy between the Mission Fathers and the authorities of the pueblo) the Guadalupe River was fixed as the boundary, while the line between the pueblo and the Mission of San Juan was fixed across the valley to the south in the vicinity of Las Llagas Creek. San Jose, before the admission of California to the Union, was one of the few populous settlements in California, and was known at that time, and before, as the " Upper Pueblo." It was selected by the framers of our first constitution as the future capital of the State. Such an important destiny spurred the inhabitants to an extra effort to provide suitable accommodations for the officers of the State and its august Legislature. By various efforts, in the new and rather chaotic condition of things, the faith of the embryo city was pledged to pay the expenses of building a State-house fronting on the plaza. It was rather a pretentious building for those times, but would be considered very insignificant in comparison with the structures surrounding that locality at the present day. At all events, with wages at an ounce a day for carpenters and masons, and lumber at several hundred dollars a thousand feet, its appearance and size were, by no means, commensurate with its cost, which was $34,000. The city becoming involved and unable to pay, under the direction of James M. Jones, an attorney then lately arrived from Louisiana, a judgment was obtained against her and in favor of the creditors. An execution was issued on this judgment, and all the pueblo lands sold at sheriffs sale, and bought in by a syndicate styling itself the "San Jose Land Company." This syndicate soon became known in the local vernacular as the " Forty Thieves," although the number of its members was less than forty, and they were by no means thieves. But the title they claimed under became popularly known, and has passed into history, as the "Forty Thieves' Title." The San Jose Land Company, after acquiring its sheriff's deed to lands belonging to the city, as before. related, claiming to be the successor in interest to the pueblo, presented its claim to the United States Land Commission sitting in San Francisco, praying for confirmation to it, of the lands contained within these boundaries, asserting that there had been a concession by the Spanish crown to the pueblo of that large tract. A mass of documentary evidence, correspondence, etc., was introduced, also the testimony of witnesses, to the fact that these monuments had been placed there years before, and had been recognized by the citizens. Although no formal concession or grant had ever been found or produced, it was asserted that those acts indicated that one had actually been made. The Board of Commissioners and the United States District Court confirmed the grant to these exterior boundaries. In the meantime settlers had located on lands included in this tract, under the impression that it belonged to the government, or to private parties of whom they had purchased. They had made improvements and established homes. By this decision extending the limits of the pueblo, their property was absorbed, and they united, some fourteen of them, in securing an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. At this time there was in existence a body known as the Commissioners of the funded debt of the city of San Jose. Judge Spencer, who was a member of this board, was anxious to have the decision of the District Court sustained, knowing that the land company had no valid claim, and that if the title to this large tract was confirmed to the city, it could be maintained. He succeeded in effecting a compromise, by which the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the lower court, except as to the tracts owned by the fourteen settlers as before stated. A final decree was made to this effect. Afterward this large body of land was sold in tracts, to actual settlers, at the price fixed by the United States Government for its public lands. With the proceeds of these sales the debt of the city of San Jose was extinguished, and up to 1887 the city had no debt of any kind whatever. In due time the pueblo was surveyed out, and, in 1884, a patent was issued. This claim of the San Jose Land Company was the subject of more or less litigation and trouble from time to time until 1869. It came up in the case of Branham et al. versus the City of San Jose, where it was held by the Supreme Court that the city's lands were not subject to execution and sale under a judgment against her. A number of years later, upon the adoption of a charter for the city, a clause was inserted which, it was claimed, confirmed the land company's title. Upon that claim an action was brought in the United States Circuit Court for the District of California to recover possession of the large body of land within the corporate limits which had not passed by legalized grants. The case was Leroy versus Chaboya et al.�some six hundred different defendants being named, and involving the title to a very large portion of the land within the city limits. Mr. E. Spencer, who was counsel for the defendants, obtained a ruling from the District Court to the effect that the provisions of the charter referred to did not amount to a confirmation in favor of the land company, or its successor, thus ending a case of great importance to the inhabitants of the city and surrounding territory, and which went far to settle land titles in this vicinity. MISSION GRANTS. Grants, of rather an indefinite character, were claimed to have been made to the various missions, of which there were a number, both in Northern and Southern California. When the missions were secularized, as elsewhere related, these grants reverted to the State. Notwithstanding this act of secularization, several of the missions retained more or less landed property, such as church edifices, orchards, etc., and these, in most instances, were afterwards confirmed to the church; but a large body of grazing lands passed into the general domain, and was regranted to private individuals. There was quite an extended legal warfare before these lands were confirmed to the church. It was claimed that when the missions were secularized all property reverted to the Mexican Government, and as it had never been regranted it became the public domain of the United States on the session of California, and therefore subject to pre�emption. The orchard property of Santa Clara was particularly valuable, and was settled on by several sets of squatters. The first was T. W. Redmon, county judge, who held the orchard for several years, selling the fruit at enormous prices. It went through several hands, and was the subject of much litigation, but was finally confirmed to Archbishop Allemany, representing the church. SUERTES. We have related how Lieutenant Moraga, under direction of the Spanish Government, partitioned to the original settlers the lands of the new pueblo. These allotments were made in accordance with a rule adopted by the government, by which rule all pueblos or towns were to be laid out and established under the plan of the city of Tepic. Under this plan the tracts of land were divided into three classes: solares, or building lots; suertes, or lots for cultivation, and egidos, or commons for pasturage and wood. By the Tepic method each head of a family was given four suertes and one solar. There is a sufficient record of this allotment having been made by Moraga at the first location north of the present city, but no record has ever been found of a similar allotment having been made after the site of the pueblo had been removed to its present location. It is a legitimate presumption that such partition was made, although there is no record evidence. Judge Spencer tells us that in 1852, and even later, there remained landmarks that showed something of the general plan of the location. Among these were, in several places, stumps of hedge-rows forming alleys leading to the Guadaloupe River--evidently roads used by the women who went to the creek to wash. He says that at that time, and until the willows and other vegetation was destroyed, the Guadaloupe was a perennial stream, supplied in the summer-time from the springs in the lower ground south of town, while from the Guadaloupe were the remains, tolerably defined, of ditches leading into the Canoas Creek. This word " canoas," besides meaning "canoe," also signifies a " trough;" and it was probably for this latter meaning that the Mexicans applied it to this stream, as they evidently used it for the purpose of conveying water to their suertes, or planting lands. There were also remains of branch ditches, or acequiase One went out and crossed the plaza near the site of the new City Hall, and continued on, crossing First Street near San Fernando, as if to irrigate the land sloping to the north and east. Another one was a little west of Market Street, crossing Santa Clara Street diagonally, going through the grounds now occupied by the Sisters of Notre Dame, and continuing to the present site of Hotel Vendome; from this was irrigated the lands between it and the Guadaloupe River, which it paralleled. In one of the suits regarding the land claimed as suertes, old Pedro Chaboya and other old Mexican witnesses testified that all the alkali ground in the northeast portion of the city was, in very early days, fine land for crops ; but the Coyote River having overflowed its banks and rushed down across the country, the soil was washed off, and when the water receded or evaporated it was transformed into an alkali sink. It seems that there must have been suertes in the vicinity of where these acequias ran; but whether they were granted with actual title, or only for temporary use, there is no evidence. It was most probably the latter; or, if actual title was granted, the suertes were abandoned. This conclusion is reached from the fact that years ago the oldest inhabitant could not remember the location, and also from the custom of the Mexicans, in those primitive days, of using as little labor as possible in growing their crops. Where the soil was refractory they were unable, with their rude implements, to get it into proper condition for planting. When the land became too hard to work easily they would abandon it and go somewhere else. It was their custom to scout the foothills for places where the winter rains had washed down the rich surface soil from the mountains, and here they would repair with their families in early spring. Having built their remadas, or brush houses, they would plant the soft, rich beds with corn, beans, chilis, melons, etc., and watch them during the summer, herding off the wild cattle that roamed in droves over the plains. As the crops matured they would gather them, hanging the chilis on long strings, like beads; the corn would be husked, and the husks saved as wrappers for cigarettes and tomales. It was feast-time with them when the melons were ripe, and fandangoes followed each other in rapid succession. When the crops were all gathered the family would return to the pueblo, and the following spring renew their preparations for their little crops, or milpitas, as they called them. The margin of the hills northeast of San Jose, abounded in these rich, mellow spots, and from this was derived the name given to the Milpitas rancho and town. We have recited this custom only for the purpose of strengthening the presumption that the title to the suertes to the east of Market Street was but temporary, and had lapsed or been abandoned long prior to the American occupation. Knowing the easy-going, indolent nature of the people, and that the character of the soil in the immediate vicinity of the pueblo renders it particularly difficult to work after a few years' irrigation, it is not forcing a conclusion to suppose that they should abandon a field on which their rude implements could make no impression, for the more fertile and tractable ground at the foot of the mountains and elsewhere. But with the Americans came the land speculators, and, as the pueblo grew in importance and its lands in value, suits were inaugurated to obtain possession of some of the most valuable portions of the city under the suerte title. None of them, however, were successful, but they formed a chapter of the most important and sharpest litigation of the county. There being no record of the original allotment of suertes, their existence could only be proved by parol testimony, and for this purpose the "oldest inhabitant" was in constant demand. The few old landmarks which we have mentioned were marshaled with all the dignity due their antiquity, but neither these nor the imperfect family traditions of the oldest poblanos were sufficient to warrant a judgment in favor of the claimants. SETTLERS' WAR. The methods used by the Mexicans to measure and mark out the boundaries of their grants were very crude, and resulted in much inaccuracy. Many of them, when surveyed out by the United States, shrank or expanded their dimensions to the extent of many hundreds of acres. Persons who had settled on what was thought to be government land would, after some years of labor, find themselves included within the boundaries of a neighboring grant, and would be compelled to lose their homes or purchase them again of another owner. Some persons were compelled to purchase their farms several times before their title became assured. This caused great dissatisfaction among the settlers, and societies were formed to meet adverse claimants, with force if necessary, to prevent eviction. These societies, though very determined in the expression of their rights, generally avoided violent measures. In fact, with one exception, they confined their efforts to the raising of funds for the purpose of defending their claims in the courts. The exception referred to occurred in 1861, and is thus recorded by Mr. Hall : "The greatest excitement and demonstration that was ever exhibited in this county upon the question of land titles took place this year. The grant of Antonio Chabolla for the tract of land known as the Yerba Buena Rancho, lying east or southeast of the town, had been confirmed to the claimants thereof under the Chabolla title by the United States courts. There were many settlers of the land, some of whom had occupied the same for quite a lengthy period under the belief that it was public land. They seemed to be of opinion that the grant was a fraudulent one, notwithstanding the fact that the land had been patented by the United States in accordance with the decree of confirmation. The advice which had been given the settlers was evidently not that kind which had a tendency to better them, or to cause them to view the matter in the proper light. They were induced to expend money in the way of lawyers' fees that was as useless as throwing money in the sea. The government had conveyed, in fee simple, the land to the claimants, and no party but the United States could move to set aside that patent upon the ground of fraud or any other ground. Suits in ejectment had been instituted against some of the settlers on said land, and judgments rendered against them for possession of certain tracts in the third judicial district of this State, in and for the county of Santa Clara. Wm. Matthews, Esq., of counsel for plaintiff in those cases, caused writs of execution for possession to be issued to the sheriff of the county, that the plaintiff might have possession in accordance with his judgments. " The sheriff summoned a posse of six hundred men to meet him at the courthouse, to go with and to aid him in executing the writ. When the posse assembled at the courthouse they were asked if they were armed, to which they replied in the negative; and being asked if they would arm themselves, likewise replied in the negative. As the posse would render no assistance, they were dismissed by the sheriff. About one o'clock P. M. about a thousand settlers paraded through the town, some on horses, some in wagons, some on foot, and nearly all armed. They had one small cannon. All of the settlers' leagues of the county and some from adjoining counties were said to have been present. Toward the close of the day they went to their respective homes without doing any damage, save that of disobeying the writ." When the excitement cooled off, better councils prevailed, and the differences were settled peaceably. SURVEY OF THE CITY OF SAN JOSE- FIVE-HUNDRED‑ACRE LOTS. Until 1847 there had not been much certainty as to the location of, or titles to, lots in the pueblo or town of San Jose. It seemed to have been taken for granted that the laws regulating the establishment of Mexican towns had been complied with, and that those in possession had valid titles. Whether the title was good or not, seemed to be a matter of little consequence under the then existing condition of affairs. There were no regularly laid-out streets. The center of the town was the juzgado, or the plaza, and the houses were scattered north and south on irregular lines, with roadway between. This roadway is now Market Street. After the defeat of Sanchez at the battle of Santa Clara, and the certainty that the arms of the United States would be victorious in Mexico, the foreigners became impressed with the conviction that Alta California would be ceded to the victors and a permanent government established. Viewed in this light, the solares and the suertes of the pueblo became of more importance, and an attempt was made to settle the question of their ownership. There was a well-authenticated record of the distribution of lots by Lieutenant Moraga, at the first location of the pueblo north of town; but if any distribution had been made when the pueblo was relocated, there was no record showing it. Early in 1847 the ayuntamiento and Alcalde directed Mr. William Campbell to survey out a plat of land a mile square, to be laid out in building lots. This, assisted by his brother Thomas, he did, the tract so surveyed lying between the following boundaries: On the north by Julian Street, on the east by Eighth Street, south by Reed Street, and west by Market. This tract was intended to exclude all questions of title arising from suerte claims. Mr. John Burton, who was then Alcalde, and had resided here twenty years, stated that the result of his investigation was that no suerte claims extended farther south than Julian, except the Gongora claim, or further east than Market Street. This is the original plat of San Jose, and from this survey may be dated the existence of the city. The streets were located through this tract, making nine blocks from Julian to Reed, and eight blocks from Market to Eighth. The exact course of the streets running north and south was N. 45� west,. magnetic variation 15� 22" east. The length of these streets was five thousand six hundred and seven feet. The cross streets were laid out at right angles to these. The survey having been completed and a map filed, the Alcalde gave notice to all persons claiming land within the limits of this survey, to present them to him for investigation, and, if found valid, he would issue them a new title. Burton, who was no lawyer, seemed to possess a remarkably level head. Notwithstanding persistent litigation on the part of contesting claimants, all the Alcalde grants under the Campbell survey have been held by the Supreme Court to be valid. In Campbell's survey four blocks were reserved for a public square. This was named Washington Square, and is the present location of the State Normal School. The town having thus been located, its limits and the boundaries of its blocks and lots defined, the settlers from the States resolved to secure a partition of the outside lands belonging to the pueblo. A meeting was called, the proposition to make the survey into lots of five hundred acres each was adopted, and J. De Hutton appointed to make the survey. This was done in July of the same year. The lots were numbered consecutively, and corresponding numbers placed in a hat, of which each head of a family was permitted to draw one, entitling him to choose a lot, his choice being in the order of the numbers drawn, i. e., the person drawing number one was entitled to first choice, and so on. After the drawing the Alcalde gave to each party a certificate of title. These Alcalde titles to the five-hundred-acre lots were afterward declared invalid by the Supreme Court. In May, 1848, another survey of the town plot was made, this time by C. S. Lyman. He was a practical surveyor and possessed all the necessary implements for practical work. By this survey the limits were extended eastwardly to Eleventh Street. He enlarged Washington Square to its present dimensions, eleven hundred and sixty feet by one thousand and five feet. He laid out St. James Square, which is six hundred and ten by five hundred and fifty feet. Market Square, the site of the new City Hall, he fixed at eleven hundred and sixty by two hundred and fifty-nine feet. Market, Santa Clara, and Fifth Streets were made one hundred feet wide; all the streets running north and south, except Fifth, were made eighty feet wide. The system adopted in this survey is the one now in use. San Fernando Street is the base line and the ranges are counted easterly from Market Street. Other surveys have been made as additional territory was taken into the city limits, but as these are of comparatively recent date and are fully shown by maps and plots in the city archives, a description is unnecessary in these pages. The tract of land lying west of Market Street and along the Guadaloupe River, was used for cultivation, and was not surveyed into town lots for several years after California was admitted into the Union. It was held as suertes, and was watered by an acequia, or ditch, leading from the Arroyo Tulares, or Canoas Creek, south of town. This ditch, which has been previously described, furnished water to the people for some time after California became a State; but gradually the foreigners acquired this land from the Mexican grantees and streets were opened from time to time, as the population increased. This fact will explain the difference in the system of numbering and naming as well as of the peculiarities of location and construction of the streets in this locality.