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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 22/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

grant claims in the area provide much interesting information on
the early residents. When Florida was ceded to the United States,
the treaty of cession stipulated that all land grants made by prior
governments before January 24, 1818, were to be confirmed by the
United States. Although the intent of the treaty was clear, ad­
judication of the actual claims was complex. The Forbes grant for
one and a quarter million acres of land in the region of the
Apalachicola River was not confirmed until 1835. The main
Arrendondo grant of 289,647 acres in Alachua County was con­
firmed in 1832. A smaller Arredondo grant of 38,000 acres in
Columbia County was not resolved until 1846. Court proceedings
over the smaller Arredondo grant commenced in 1830. In 1839, the
United States Supreme Court ruled that the 38,000 acre claim of
the grant originally given to F. M. Arredondo and Son in 1817 was
valid if the natural boundaries given in the grant could be
identified. Alligator Creek and the Indian town of Alligator were
mentioned in the grant so their location was necessary for the
adjudication of the claim. The Court stated that “if, however,
neither Alligator Creek can be found, nor any creek to the west of
Alligator Town entering the Swanee [sic] . . . and if Alligator
Town cannot be found, then it is the opinion of this court that the
remaining description in the petition of the locality of the con­
cession is too indefinite to enable a survey to be made and that the
appellees can take nothing under the concession.”9
Since it was necessary to demonstrate that the Indian village
of Alligator existed prior to the American period, court officials
took statements from the early settlers. On February 13, 1830, in
testimony before the superior court for the District of East
Florida, Reuben Charles, an Indian trader and one of the first
Americans in Florida, gave a deposition before Elias B. Gould,
justice of the peace of St. Johns County. Charles stated that he was
employed by Moses E. Levy and Joseph Arredondo in 1824 to

^Historic Records Survey Spanish Land Grantn, Vol. II, p. 50.
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