Guide to the State of California vs. Yuba Goldfields Collection, 1979-1985

Processed by The California State Library staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Xiuzhi Zhou

California History Room

California State Library

Library and Courts Building II

900 N. Street, Room 200

P.O. Box 942837

Sacramento, California 94237-0001

Phone: (916) 654-0176

Fax: (916) 654-8777

Email: cslcal@library.ca.gov

URL: http://www.library.ca.gov/

Guide to the State of California vs. Yuba Goldfields Collection, 1979-1985

California State Library

Sacramento, California

Contact Information:

California History Room
California State Library
Library and Courts Building II
900 N. Street, Room 200
P.O. Box 942837
Sacramento, California 94237-0001
Phone: (916) 654-0176
Fax: (916) 654-8777
Email: cslcal@library.ca.gov
URL: http://www.library.ca.gov/

Processed by:: The California State Library staff
Encoded by:: Xiuzhi Zhou

Descriptive Summary

Title: State of California vs. Yuba Goldfields Collection,

Date (inclusive): 1979-1985

Box Number: 1754-1794

Repository: California State Library

Sacramento, California

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Unrestricted.

Conditions of Use

Please credit California State Library.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to California State Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing. Permission for publication is given on behalf of California State Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], State of California vs. Yuba Goldfields Collection, California State Library.

Access Points

Yuba River (Calif.) --Navigation --Law and legislation

Inland navigation --Law and legislation --California

Marysville (Calif.) --History

Contents

Briefs and court decisions from 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, settlement agreement, trial briefs, complaints and answer motion for summary judgment, listing and analysis of exhibits, comments on navigability, plaintiff and defendant exhibits, depositions of witnesses, trial transcripts

History

The principal factual issue in the case was whether the Yuba River was navigable in 1850 (year of admission of California into the Union) from Marysville upstream to about Mile 18. The Plaintiff took the position it was navigable, but the Defendants opposed. The significance of this issue was that if navigable, the Plaintiff would own the bed of the river as it existed in 1850, otherwise, it would be owned by the Defendants or others.

In this instance the precise lands involved were a some 400 feet wide running from about Mile 8 to Mile 18, with the United States having record fee ownership of the surface and Yuba the precious metals in some areas, and each owning the entire fee in other tracts.

The approximate time period covered was early 1800 to early 1900. This evidence generated more documents, plus all the briefs, depositions, and trial transcripts associated with the case.

Recognized historians of note were arrayed on all sides, including W. Turrintine Jackson for the State, William H. Hutchinson and Joe Hagwood for the United States, and John Thompson for Yuba. The attorneys were Richard Frank and Blake Stevenson for the State, Mary Beth Uitti and Don Denney for the United States, and Lloyd Hinkleman and Andrea Miller for Yuba.

The case was filed by the State on October 19, 1979. After the usual preliminary skirmishes, it went to trial before the Honorable Paul A. Ramirez on February 15, 1983 and proceeded intermittently through May 3, 1983.

The Judge rendered an intermediate decision on July 22, 1983, not on the merits of the case but on a motion for dismissal by the United States that the Court did not have the jurisdiction of the Federal interests because of a 12-year statute of limitations. A decision of the Supreme Court had just been issued on a similar question that the Federal statute would run against a state the same as an individual. The Judge followed that decision and dismissed the United States, which had the effect of the State not being able to get title to any of the record interests of the United States.

The State appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which affirmed on January 21, 1985. The State then pursued the matter to the Supreme Court, which denied the Writ of Certiorari on December 2, 1985. This ended the case insofar as it concerned the interests of the United States.

However, with regard to Yuba`s interests, the statute did not run against them, and the case could have continued to trial to decide the navigability question. At this point the remaining parties, State and Yuba, entered into an agreement whereby Yuba would quitclaim all its interests in the bed of the current river and State would quitclaim its claim to the location of 1850 river located outside the current river.

The net effect of this would be that the state would get ownership of the bed in certain parts of the river and mineral ownership in others, and Yuba would get clear title in the old river bed (at least the precious metals) where it desired to continue dredging for gold.

This settlement did not resolve the issue of navigability, which remains to be resolved on another day with other parties, especially involving the record owners between Marysville and upstream to about Mile 8.

Related Collections

Title: William H. Hutchinson Collection

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folders 1, 4, 6-8, 14; Box 1755, Folders 1, 4; Box 1756, Folders 1, 2, 7, 10; Box 1757, Folders 9, 13-15; Box 1758, Folder 1; Box 1759, Folder 3-4, 8; Box 1760, Folders 5, 8, 11, 13; Box 1765, Folders 22, 39; Box 1768, Folders 22, 25; Box 1769, Folders 4, 51-52; Box 1770, Folder 14; Box 1772, Folder 2; Box 1774, Folder 2; Box 1775, Folders 1-2; Box 1781, Folder 2)

Denney, Roy Donald.

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folder 7; Box 1755, Folders 2-3; Box 1757, Folder 11; Box 1758, Folder 7; Box 1760, Folder 10; Box 1764, Folder 7; Box 1771, Folder 7; Box 1781, Folder 2)

Frank, Richard M.

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folders 8-10; Box 1758, Folder 7; Box 1760, Folder 10; Box 1782, Folder 1; Box 1785, Folder 2)

Hinkelman, Lloyd

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 3; Box 1760, Folder 1; Box 1765, Folders 23-24, 26, 42; Box 1769, Folders 31-45, 47-48, 50, 53-68; Box 1770, Folders 1-9, 11; Box 1775, Folder 2; Box 1784, Folder 1)

Hutchinson, W. H. (William Henry), 1910-1990.

Box-folder (Box 1757, Folders 11, 15; Box 1759, Folder 3; Box 1760, Folder 5; Box 1767, Folder 18; Box 1768, Folders 16, 29; Box 1769, Folder 3; Box 1772, Folder 2)

O'Shea, Donald M.

Box-folder (Box 1767, Folders 18, 21-22; Box 1768, Folders 10, 32; Box 1772, Folder 2; Box 1774, Folder 2; Box 1775, Folder 2; Box 1783, Folder 2)

Rockwell, F.G.

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folders 13-14; Box 1755, Folder 2; Box 1756, Folders 2, 6; Box 1758, Folder 7; Box 1759, Folder 5; Box 1760, Folder 13; Box 1775, Folders 1-2)

Uitti, Mary Beth

Box-folder (Box 1775, Folder 2)

Bakarich, M.S.

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7)

Bower, Hubert O.

Box-folder (Box 1766, Folder 31)

Brady, Judith M.

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7)

Breeding, William H.

Box-folder (Box 1757, Folder 11)

Brown, Jerry, 1938-

Box-folder (Box 1760, Folder 13)

Bryson, John A.

Box-folder (Box 1767, Folder 1; Box 1774, Folder 2)

Card, Creed B.

Box-folder (Box 1774, Folder 2)

Carey, T.J.

Box-folder (Box 1759, Folder 1)

Cinciotta, Linda A.

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7)

Clark, Clyde

Box-folder (Box 1774, Folder 2)

Clarke, E. Kendall

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folder 6; Box 1760, Folder 13)

Cohen, Martin

Box-folder (Box 1765, Folder 47)

Comstock, Dave

Box-folder (Box 1757, Folder 11)

Dacey, John J.

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folder 5)

Dedrick, Claire T.

Box-folder (Box 1755, Folder 4)

Doris

Box-folder (Box 1761, Folder 29; Box 1772, Folder 2; Box 1775, Folder 2)

Eickbush, Francis D.

Box-folder (Box 1782, Folder 1)

Elliot, Jerry J.

Box-folder (Box 1765, Folder 43)

Farish, Thomas Edwin

Box-folder (Box 1759, Folder 3)

Farwell, Betty J.

Foley, Doris

(See: Larsen, Doris Foley)

Box-folder (Box 1767, Folder 11; Box 1772, Folder 2; Box 1781, Folder 2)

Foot, L.A.

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7; Box 1767, Folders 6-9; Box 1772, Folder 2)

Forbes, Katherine M.

Box-folder (Box 1764, Folder 7)

Fullerton, Darrell

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7; Box 1782, Folder 2)

Gargis, C.T.

Box-folder (Box 1757, Folder 11)

Gatzek, Deborah R.

Box-folder (Box 1774, Folder 2; Box 1775, Folder 2)

Goldstein, Burton J.

Box-folder (Box 1774, Folder 2)

Golub, Ralph

Box-folder (Box 1775, Folder 2; Box 1783, Folder 1)

Hagwood, Joseph J. Jr.

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folder 8)

Hansen, Richard

Box-folder (Box 1760, Folder 5)

Hastey, Ed

Box-folder (Box 1783, Folder 2)

Helm, Mike

Box-folder (Box 1768, Folder 6; Box 1770, Folder 13; Box 1775, Folder 1; Box 1783, Folder 3)

Hoffman, H. Wilbur

Box-folder (Box 1757, Folder 11; Box 1760, Folder 5; Box 1772, Folder 2; Box 1775, Folder 2)

Holmes, Walter F.

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7)

Holt, Hyatt H.

Box-folder (Box 1760, Folder 13)

Hulce, Clark J.

Box-folder (Box 1770, Folders 16-17)

Johnson, Wallace H.

Box-folder (Box 1760, Folder 13)

Karlissa

Box-folder (Box 1757, Folder 13; Box 1759, Folder 3; Box 1768, Folder 9; Box 1772, Folder 2; Box 1774, Folder 2; Box 1775, Folder 2; Box 1783, Folder 2)

Kavanaugh, Paul F.

Box-folder (Box 1767, Folder 16; Box 1772, Folder 2)

Kittle, Otis A.

Box-folder (Box 1755, Folder 3; Box 1771, Folder 8)

Krone, Ray B.

Box-folder (Box 1757, Folder 11)

Kratter and Gratzek

Box-folder (Box 1759, Folder 3)

LaPoint, John F.

Box-folder (Box 1775, Folder 2)

Larsen, Doris Foley

Box-folder (Box 1760, Folder 13)

Lingenfelter, Stephen I.

Box-folder (Box 1774, Folder 2)

Liotta, Anthony C.

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folder 1)

Little, Jonathan J.

Box-folder (Box 1769, Folder 1)

Livingston, Daniel

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7)

Lynch, Robert L.

Box-folder (Box 1759, Folder 3)

McIntyre, Jane M.

Box-folder (Box 1782, Folders 1-2; Box 1783, Folder 2; Box 1785, Folder 3)

McKinnon, Timothy F.

Box-folder (Box 1768, Folder 22)

McKinsey, Ed

Box-folder (Box 1767, Folder 14-15; Box 1772, Folder 2)

Mayers, Leo R.

Box-folder (Box 1759, Folder 3)

Meeken, S.R. Jr.

Box-folder (Box 1756, Folders 2, 5; Box 1760, Folders 7, 10; Box 1782, Folder 1)

Miller, Andrea M.

Box-folder (Box 1757, Folder 11)

Mills, Stephen H.

Box-folder (Box 1756, Folder 2; Box 1774, Folder 2; Box 1775, Folder 2)

Moskovitz, Adolph

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7; Box 1774, Folder 2)

Northrop, William F.

Box-folder (Box 1760, Folder 4)

Parnell, Jack C.

Box-folder (Box 1765, Folders 3-4)

Pinkett, Harold T.

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7)

Porter, Patricia L.

Box-folder (Box 1769, Folders 1-2)

Probasco, G.W.

Box-folder (Box 1760, Folder 5)

Renda, Charles R.

Box-folder (Box 1759, Folder 1)

Robie, William R.

Box-folder (Box 1774, Folder 2)

Ruddle, Douglas B.

Box-folder (Box 1768, Folder 34)

Rufsvold, Robert M.

Box-folder (Box 1759, Folder 3)

Schiffer, Lois J.

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folder 3)

Scholl, Wayne J.

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folder 6; Box 1759, Folder 3; Box 1760, Folder 13)

Sherrer, Charles W.

Box-folder (Box 1774, Folder 2; Box 1775, Folder 2)

Silbert, Arthur

Box-folder (Box 1767, Folder 23; Box 1774, Folder 2)

Smith, Kenneth C.

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7; Box 1772, Folder 2; Box 1775, Folder 2)

Sosbee, Harryette R.

Box-folder (Box 1775, Folder 1)

Spencer-Hancock, Dianne

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folders 8-10; Box 1758, Folder 7)

Stevenson, Blake D.

Box-folder (Box 1758, Folder 7)

Talbitzer, Bill

Box-folder (Box 1759, Folder 6; Box 1770, Folder 15)

Thompson, John

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folder 7)

Toffoli, Eugene V.

Box-folder (Box 1767, Folder 2; Box 1772, Folder 2)

Trout, James F.

Box-folder (Box 1768, Folders 15, 17, 24, 27, 37)

Vandenberg, William E.

Box-folder (Box 1781, Folders 1-2; Box 1783, Folder 3)

Vine, Janette

Box-folder (Box 1774, Folder 2; Box 1785, Folder 3)

Wheeler, Morgan

Box-folder (Box 1754, Folder 6; Box 1760, Folder 13)

Williams, Arthur E.

Box-folder (Box 1785, Folder 1)

Williams, Kenneth R.

Box-folder (Box 1774, Folder 2)

Worstell, Geoffrey

Compton, Jacob

Denney, Roy Donald

Elliot, Jerry

Gargis, Colbert T.

Hagwood, Joseph J.

Helm, Michael

Hoffman, H. Wilbur

Hutchinson, W. H. (William Henry), 1910-1990.

Jackson, W. Turrentine (William Turrentine), 1915-

Thompson, John

Wheeler, Morgan

Box Box 1754

Correspondence

After-Action Reports

Settlement Agreement

Settlement Documents

Briefs--9th Circuit Court of Appeals

Final Decision/Cost

Box Box 1755:

Briefs and Motions--12 year statute of limitations

Trial Briefs

Box Box 1756

Retrial Statements

Summary Judgement Materials

Box Box 1757

Status Reports

Court Orders

Answers

Amend Complaint

Original Complaint

State Lands Hearing Brief

List and Analysis of Exhibits

Box Box 1758

Timeline of Yuba River

Lists of Exhibits

Map of Exchanged Lands

Plaintiff Documents

Response to Request

Transcript

Order Pretrial Witnesses/Exhibits

Box Box 1759

Denney Authority

Preparation of Response to Summary

Brief on Navigability

Thank You Letters to Historians and Witnesses

Box Box 1760

Letters

Notes

Memoranda

Litigation Reports

Non-Navigability

Box Box 1761

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 1-33 In-Evidence

Box Box 1762

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 34-71 In-Evidence

Box Box 1763

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 72-120 In-Evidence

Box Box 1764

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 121-142 In-Evidence

Box Box 1765

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 143-373 In-Evidence

Box Box 1766

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 2-131 Not in Evidence

Box Box 1767

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 133-184 Not in Evidence

Box Box 1768

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 185-222 Not in Evidence

Box Box 1769

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 224-310 Not in Evidence

Box Box 1770

Plaintiff (State) Exhibits 311-352 Not in Evidence

Box Box 1771

Federal Exhibits HH-4 - UUUUU

Box Box 1772

Federal Exhibits A-GGGG Set no. 1, vol. 1-2 (A - GG-2)

Box Box 1773

Federal Exhibits A - GGGG Set no. 1, vol. 3-4 (HH-1 - HH-54)

Box Box 1774

Federal Exhibits A-GGGG Set no. 1, vol. 5-6 (HH-55 - PPP-1)

Box Box 1775

Federal Exhibits A - GGGG Set no. 1, vol. 7-8 (QQQ - GGGG)

Box Box 1776

Defendant's Exhibits B - LLLL

Box Box 1777

Defendant's Exhibits A - P

Box Box 1778

Defendant's Exhibits Q - Z

Box Box 1779

Defendant's Exhibits AA - KKK

Box Box 1780

Defendant's Exhibits LLL - QQQ

Box Box 1781

Depositions of Witnesses Compton-Denney

Box Box 1782

Depositions of Witnesses Elliot-Gargis

Box Box 1783

Depositions of Witnesses Hagwood-Hoffman

Box Box 1784

Depositions of Witnesses Hutchinson, William H.

Box Box 1785

Depositions of Witnesses Jackson-Wheeler

Box Box 1786

Trial Transcripts (v.1, Feb. 15, 1983-v.3, Feb. 23, 1983)

Box Box 1787

Trial Transcripts (v.4, Feb. 24, 1983-v.6, March 1, 1983)

Box Box 1788

Trial Transcripts (v.7, March 3, 1983-v.9, March 8, 1983)

Box Box 1789

Trial Transcripts (v.10, March 9, 1983-v.13, March 17, 1983)

Box Box 1790

Trial Transcripts (v.14, March 22, 1983-v.17, March 28, 1983)

Box Box 1791

Trial Transcripts (v.18, April 5, 1983-v.20, April 7, 1983)

Box Box 1792

Trial Transcripts

Pretrial Hearing (August 23, 1982)

List of Exhibits (v.26, April 21, 1983)

Box Box 1793

Trial Transcripts (v.27, April 22-May 3, 1983)

Trial Briefs

Reporters' Transcript (June 20, 1980)

Notice of Motion and Motion for Summary Judgement

Box Box 1794

Trial Transcripts (v.21, April 8, 1983-v.25, April 25, 1983)