Hi Joel, Thanks for the great advice, yes I agree, the Monterey County Genweb page is a fantastic research tool. In fact, from a link there is where I located a land patent in the name of Stephen DILLE, dated 1889, with the description I sent earlier. I was unable to ascertain exactly where this land was located, which is why I wrote to the list. I will be visiting the Monterey Co. area this coming week, and would love to pin down this land to get some photo's. I suppose I could visit the county assessor when I get there, but just thought I'd throw it out here to see if anyone had any other tools available (like a plat map copy). Thanks again, Teddy