UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE

The boundaries of the Mexican grant, called the Moquelamos grant, considered, the same being described as "bounded on the east by the adjacent sierra." Held, as the result of the evidence adduced, that its eastern limit was at the point where the foothills of the sierra begin to rise above the plain, near the range line between ranges 7 and 8.

Mexican grants were of three kinds: 1, grants by specific boundaries, where the donee is entitled to the entire tract; 2, grants of quantity within a larger tract described by outside boundaries, where the donee is entitled to the quantity specified and no more; 3, grants of a certain place or rancho by name, where the donee is entitled to the whole place or rancho. The second kind, grants of quantity in a larger tract, are, properly, floats, and do not attach to any specific land until located by authority of the government. The Moquelamos grant was of this kind.