"In this cause, originally instituted against Greer county, Oklahoma territory, and the heirs, devisees, and executors of Wm. Cameron, deceased, Greer county disclaimed as to all the land sued for, except 7,236 acres described in its amended answer, and the executors, heirs, and devisees of Wm. Cameron, deceased, disclaimed as to the 7,236 acres, claiming the balance, 10,476 acres. Upon the trial there was, by agreement, a severance as between Greer county, on the one part, and the heirs and devisees and executors of Wm. Cameron, deceased, on the other. The cause as to Greer county was tried upon an agreed statement of facts, which I have adopted as my conclusions of fact in said cause, as follows: `In this cause, for the purpose of trial, the following statement of facts is agreed upon by the parties: (1) The land sued for comprises four leagues in Hockley and Cochran counties, and was granted to Greer county, as an organized county of the state of Texas, under the provisions of the general laws of the state of Texas, granting four leagues of land to each county of the state for school purposes. (2) Patents (five in number) issued to Greer county July 18, 1887, being Nos. 519, 520, 521, 522, and 523, vol. 24. The original or certified copies of such patents may be introduced in evidence by either party and for any purpose deemed advisable. (3) 7,236 acres of said land is now claimed by Greer county, Oklahoma territory, under and by virtue of said patents to Greer county, Texas. Said 7,236 acres is described as follows: 7,236 acres of land off the north end of the Greer county school land leagues, consisting of all that part (the south part) of league No. 109 which is patented to Greer county by patent No. 523, vol. 24, consisting of 13,354,549 square varas of land, and all of league No. 88, of 4,428 acres, and the balance of said 7,236 acres off the north side of league No. 87 as follows: Beginning at the N. E. corner of said league No. 87; thence south 500 varas; thence west 5,000 varas; thence north 500 varas; thence east 5,000 varas to the place of beginning,— situated in Hockley and Cochran counties, Texas. (4) The balance of said four leagues is claimed by the heirs and devisees of Wm. Cameron, deceased, under and by virtue of a certain deed of conveyance thereof to Wm. Cameron from Strain & Swinburne, dated January 17, 1888. Strain & Swinburne claimed title thereto under and by virtue of a deed of conveyance to them, from and on the part of Greer county, Texas, by the county judge of said Greer county, Texas, dated January 12, 1888. The land referred to is described as follows: 10,476 acres of land off of the south end of the Greer county school land leagues, as follows: Beginning at the S. E. corner of that portion of league No. 85 which is patented to Greer county by patent No. 520, vol. 24; thence N. at 2,329½ varas the
N. E. corner of said league No. 85, at 7,329½ varas the N. E. corner of league No. 86, at 11,829 45/100 varas a point on the east line of league No. 87; thence W. 5,000 varas; thence south 11,829 45/100 varas; thence east 5,000 varas to the place of beginning, — so as to include all that part of league No. 85 that is patented to Greer county, all of league No. 86, and the balance of the 11,476 acres out of the south side of league No. 87, situated in Hockley and Cochran counties, Texas. (5) The defendant Greer county is now an organized county of Oklahoma territory, one of the territories of the United States, and comprises the same territory which at one time was organized under the laws of the state of Texas as Greer county, Texas, to which the aforesaid four leagues of land were patented. (6) Wm. Cameron, the grantee in the above-described deed of conveyance, died testate on the 6th day of February, 1898. By the terms of his will, which was duly probated in the probate court of McLennan county, Texas, the other defendants were made executors of his will and devisees of his estate, and are also his heirs at law, as set out in plaintiff's amended petition, and as such they claim title to the aforesaid land. (7) The territory now organized as Greer county, Oklahoma territory, was, up to the date hereinafter set out, claimed by the state of Texas to be a part of her territory, and up to said date jurisdiction and control was claimed and exercised over the same by the state of Texas. The government of the United States did not, except in so far as was done by the act making Greer county a part of the Northern judicial district of Texas, as hereinafter shown, concede said claim, but during all of said time claimed said territory as a portion of her own territory outside of the limits of the state of Texas, and the legislative and executive departments of said state had full knowledge of said claim prior to the issuance of the patents mentioned herein. Attempts were made from time to time to settle the dispute between the state of Texas and the United States as to the ownership of this territory, without success. (8) Greer county, comprising the aforesaid territory, was created by the legislature of the state of Texas by the act of February 8, 1860, and was organized as a county, under the provisions of said act, on the ____ day of ____, A. D. 1886. (9) By an act of the congress of the United States of May 2, 1890, the attorney general of the United States was directed to commence in the name and on behalf of the United States, and prosecute to final determination, a proper suit in equity in the supreme court of the United States against the state of Texas, setting forth the title and claim of the United States to the tracts of land lying between the North and South Forks of Red river, where the Indian Territory and the state of Texas adjoin, east of the 100th meridian of longitude, and claimed by the state of Texas as within its boundary and a part of its land, and designated on its maps as "Greer County." Under the authority of this act a suit was instituted in the supreme court of the United States, styled "The United States vs. The State of Texas" [162 U. S. 1, 16 Sup. Ct. 725, 40 L. Ed. 867], in which the state of Texas appeared by her attorney general and other counsel. (10) At the October term, 1895, a decree was rendered in said cause as follows: "This cause having been submitted upon the pleadings, proofs and exhibits, and the court being fully advised, it is ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the territory east of the 100th meridian of longitude, west and south of the river now known as the `North Fork of Red River,' and north of a line following westward, as prescribed by the treaty of 1819 between the United States and Spain, the course, and along the south bank of, both Red river and of the river known as the `Prairie Dog Town Fork' or `South Fork of Red River,' until such line meets the 100th meridian of longitude, which territory is sometimes called `Greer County,' constitutes no part of the territory properly included within or rightfully belonging to Texas at the time of the admission of that state into the Union, and is not within the limits nor under the jurisdiction of that state, but is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States of America. Each party will pay its own costs." After this decree was rendered, the state of Texas exercised no further control or jurisdiction of said territory, and the same was afterwards organized into Greer county, Oklahoma territory, and as a part of said territory. The territory described in said decree is the same as was embraced in Greer county, Texas, as created and organized as aforesaid. The recitals in the report of said cause of United States v. Texas, as reported in 162d volume of United States Supreme Court Reports [s. c. 16 Sup. Ct., 40 L. Ed.], and the printed record in said cause, may be used as full evidence of the facts therein stated, as to the institution of the suit, the appearance and pleadings of the parties, and the decree of the court, without the necessity of producing certified copies thereof from the records of said court.' In addition to the facts agreed upon as shown in the foregoing statement, I find that the patents referred to in the statement for the four leagues of land purport on their face to have been issued by virtue of an act of the legislature of the state of Texas approved April 7, 1883 (chapter 55, Gen. Laws 1883). I also find that in said cause Wm. Cameron, ancestor and testator of defendants, bought the land described in the answer of the said defendants (10,476 acres) from Strain & Swinburne, who were the vendees of Greer county, Texas, and that he paid Strain & Swinburne for the same. At the date of the execution of the deed from Strain & Swinburne to Cameron, they were indebted to him in the sum of $4,511, which was taken as part
of the consideration for the land; the balance of the consideration, $5,738.21, being paid in cash by Cameron at the time of the execution of the deed. Cameron thought he was getting a good title, and the price paid was its fair value at the time.
"Conclusions of Law. From the foregoing facts I conclude, as a matter of law, that the plaintiff is entitled to recover of the defendants, heirs of Wm....
