Bourdieu v. Pacific Western Oil Co, 2

• Decision Date: 09 November 1936
• Docket Number: No. 2,2
• Citation: 57 S.Ct. 51,299 U.S. 65,81 L.Ed. 42
• Parties: BOURDIEU v. PACIFIC WESTERN OIL CO. et al. *
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

299 U.S. 65

57 S.Ct. 51

81 L.Ed. 42

BOURDIEU

v PACIFIC WESTERN OIL CO. et al.^*

No. 2.

Argued Oct. 12, 1936.

Decided Nov. 9, 1936.

Messrs. Archibald B. Dorman and Jefferson P. Chandler, both of Los Angeles, Cal., for petitioner.

Mr. Herbert W. Clark, of San Francisco, Cal., for respondents.

Mr. Justice SUTHERLAND delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is a suit brought by petitioner against respondents to have impressed in his favor a trust in respect of a portion of a lease, executed by the United States, of oil and gas lands in the State of California.

The bill alleges that petitioner, since March, 1919, has been the owner and in possession of certain legal subdivisions of section 30, township 21 south, range 17 east, Mount Diablo Meridian, Fresno county, California, embracing 322.89 acres; that by reason of such ownership, he has been at all times since February 25, 1920, entitled to a preference right for a permit to prospect on such land for oil and minerals and, in case of discovery thereon, to a lease under the provisions of section 20 of the Leasing Act of February 25, 1920, 41 Stat. 437, 445 (30 U.S.C.A. § 229), which provides: 'In the case of lands bona fide entered as agricultural, and not withdrawn or classified as mineral at the time of entry, * * * the entryman or patentee, or assigns, * * * if the entry has been patented with the mineral right reserved, shall be entitled to a preference right to a permit and to a lease, as herein provided, in case of discovery.' The bill further alleges that petitioner made a bona fide entry of the land in question as agricultural; that the land was not withdrawn or classified as mineral at the time of his entry; that the entry was patented to him with a reservation of oil and gas to the United States under the provisions of the Act of July 17, 1914, 38 Stat. 509 (30 U.S.C.A. §§ 121, 122). In May, 1921, it is alleged, one of the defendants illegally and wrongfully, and with knowledge of petitioner's rights, secured a purported permit to prospect for oil and gas on a large tract, which included the land described; that the issue of the permit was in violation of petitioner's preference right and operated to deny his right to procure a United States oil and gas prospecting permit to prospect thereon and to a lease in case of discovery, for the reason that no personal notice, as required by regulations of the Interior Department and the provisions of the Leasing Act, or notice of any kind, was given to petitioner, who had no notice of the issue of such purported permit until about the month of July, 1928. The bill further alleges that Pacific Western Oil Company acquired from the original permittee all his right, title, and interest in and to the permit, and that by reason thereof a lease was executed by the Secretary of the Interior to that company, granting the exclusive right to drill and explore for oil and minerals in said land; that such company is now the legal owner of the lease, and wrongfully holds it in violation of petitioner's prior and superior equitable rights; and that the other respondents named have or claim, adversely to petitioner, some interest in the lands in question and the lease covering the same.

An amendment to the bill, made by stipulation of the parties, alleges that petitioner's entry was made on March 6, 1919, and patent issued to him on October 7, 1925. Copies of the entry, with Land Office indorsements, and of the patent are attached and made part of the bill. The entry is in usual form and concludes, over the signature of petitioner, with the words, 'Subject to provisions and reservations and limitations of Act of July 17, 1914,' and was stamped by the Land Office, 'Application made in accordance with and subject to the provisions and reservations of the Act of July 17, 1914.'

The patent expressly excepts and reserves to the United States all the oil and gas in the lands patented, and to it, or persons authorized by it, the right to prospect for, mine and remove therefrom such oil and gas upon compliance with the conditions and subject to the provisions and limitations of the Act of July 17, 1914. Section 1 of that act provides that lands withdrawn or classified as phosphate, nitrate, potash, oil, gas, or asphaltic minerals, etc., shall be subject to entry, if otherwise available, under the nonmineral land laws, when made with a view of obtaining title 'with a reservation to the United States of the deposits on account of which the lands were withdrawn or classified * * * together with the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the same. * * * (Provided, That) All applications to locate, select, enter, or purchase under this section shall state that the same are made in accordance with and subject to the provisions and reservations of this Act (the above mentioned sections).' Chapter 142, 38 Stat. 509 (30 U.S.C.A. § 121).

There was also attached to the stipulation a copy of an order of withdrawal made by the President December 30, 1910, as follows: 'It is hereby ordered that the following described lands be, and the same are hereby withdrawn from settlement, location, sale or entry, and reserved for classification and in aid of legislation affecting the use and disposal of petroleum lands belonging to the United States, subject to all of the provisions, limitations, exceptions, and con- ditions contained in the Act of Congress entitled 'An Act to authorize the President of the United States to make withdrawals of public lands in certain cases,' approved June 25, 1910: * * *' Among the lands described is the land here in question.

In the District Court, respondents moved to dismiss the bill on the grounds: First, that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a valid cause of action in equity or at law against them or...