Losing Against The United States
When it came to the acquisition’s legal aspect, it looks like John C. Fremont had to put up a fight against the United States. He tried his best, but it seems like they found a loophole they could use against him. They claimed that he never became the island owner legally since he purchased it under the government’s name.
Fremont took them to court and didn’t want to give up his island so easily. He and some ranchers fought hard throughout the 1890s, but it looks like they eventually ruled that he didn’t have any legal ownership of the island.
