In the case of Reloj Cattle Company v. United States in 1901, the Supreme Court ruled on a dispute over land ownership between the cattle company and the government. The Reloj Cattle Company claimed that they had purchased lands from Mexican citizens who were granted these lands by Spain before Mexico gained independence. However, after an investigation into Spanish and Mexican archives, it was found that no such grant ever existed for this particular piece of land. Therefore, any title or claim to ownership based on such a grant was invalid. The court held that under international law principles regarding succession of states (where new nations inherit territorial boundaries and related rights from their predecessors), U.S., as successor to Mexico's sovereignty over California territory post-Mexican-American War (1848), did not have to recognize any alleged property rights derived from non-existent grants purportedly issued by prior sovereigns (Spain/Mexico). Thus, ruling in favor of U.S., it affirmed lower courts' decisions dismissing Reloj's suit seeking confirmation of its supposed title against federal government’s counterclaim asserting public domain status for disputed tract.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Reloj Cattle Company v. United States argued that the majority's decision was incorrect because it failed to properly interpret and apply relevant laws regarding land grants. The dissent emphasized that under Mexican law, which governed at the time of the grant, a valid title could be created without any formal act of possession by government officials. It also pointed out that there were no legal requirements for specific boundaries or surveys in order for a grant to be considered complete and perfect. Therefore, according to this view, even though there may have been some ambiguity about the exact location and extent of certain parts of the granted lands due to lack of precise survey data or other factors, this should not invalidate or diminish rights conferred by such grants as long as they were made in good faith and complied with all other necessary conditions under applicable law.