City of Port Isabel v. Missouri Pacific R. Co.

• Decision Date: 02 April 1987
• Docket Number: No. 13-86-317-CV,13-86-317-CV
• Citation: 729 S.W.2d 939
• Parties: The CITY OF PORT ISABEL, Appellant, v. MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, and Missouri Improvement Company, Appellees.
• Court: Texas Court of Appeals

Page 939

729 S.W.2d 939

The CITY OF PORT ISABEL, Appellant, v. MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, and Missouri Improvement

Company, Appellees.

No. 13-86-317-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas,

Corpus Christi.

April 2, 1987.

Rehearing Denied May 7, 1987.

William L. Hubbard, Adams, Graham, Jenkins, Graham & Hamby, Harlingen, for appellant.

Edward R. Rodriguez, Brownsville, Steve Stewart, David V. Suson, Jenkens, Hutchison & Gilchrist, Houston, for appellees.

Before UTTER, SEERDEN, and DORSEY, JJ.

OPINION

UTTER, Justice.

This is a dispute concerning title to certain submerged and partially submerged land in the Laguna Madre adjacent to Port Isabel, Texas. The trial court rendered judgment that Missouri Pacific owns fee simple title to the land. We reverse and render the judgment of the trial court.

We have included a diagram of the area for reference. The shaded areas represent the disputed land. ¹ The trial court's judgment divided the disputed land into two tracts. Tract I consists of blocks 88 and 89 and Railroad Avenue extending from Garcia Street 1020 feet into the Laguna Madre. Tract II, called the "Railroad Avenue Extension," begins at the end of the 1020 foot strip of land and extends to the patent line of 1931 as shown on the diagram.

NOTE: OPINION CONTAINS TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE

The trial court ruled that Missouri Pacific "owns fee simple title" to Tract I consisting of blocks 88 and 89 and "a 1,020 foot strip of land, 222 feet wide, called Railroad Avenue beginning at Garcia Street, but exclusive of Garcia Street, and extending into the Laguna Madre," and Tract II, the Railroad Avenue Extension.

By its sixth point of error, the City challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the trial court's finding that Missouri Pacific is the successor in interest to the Rio Grande Railroad Company. Missouri Pacific's claim to Tract I is based upon an 1878 deed to the Rio Grande Railroad Company.

In considering a "no evidence" or "insufficient evidence" point of error, we will follow the well-established test set forth in Pool v. Ford Motor Co., 715 S.W.2d 629 (Tex.1986); Dyson v. Olin Corp., 692 S.W.2d 456 (Tex.1985); Glover v. Texas General Indemnity Co., 619 S.W.2d 400 (Tex.1981); Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821 (Tex.1965); Allied Finance Co. v. Garza, 626 S.W.2d 120 (Tex.App.--Corpus Christi 1981, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Calvert, No Evidence and Insufficient Evidence Points of Error, 38 Texas L.Rev. 361 (1960).

Larry Henderson, vice-president of the Missouri Improvement Company, testified by deposition, explaining the relationship between his company and the various railroads involved in this case. He testified that the Missouri Improvement Company is a subsidiary of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. He stated that Missouri Pacific is the successor to the Rio Grande Railroad Company, the Port Isabel and Rio Grande Valley Railway Company, and the San Benito Rio Grande Railway Company.

Mr. Henderson testified without reference to any of the numerous documents in evidence. His deposition has not been included in the record; only excerpts were read into the record at trial. No objections were lodged at trial concerning his testimony, and none were read into the record at trial from the deposition. Mr. Henderson's testimony is sufficient to support the trial court's finding that Missouri Pacific is the successor in interest to the Rio Grande Railroad Company. The City's sixth point is overruled.

By its first point of error, the City challenges the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to prove that the land in question was included in the Santa Isabella Grant, a Mexican land grant under which Missouri Pacific claims title. We agree in part.

TRACT I

The City claims title to the submerged land of Tracts I and II, as included within the boundaries of a patent issued to it from the State of Texas in 1931, pursuant to Senate Bill No. 363. Although the City conveyed all 1172 acres of this submerged land to the Port Isabel Channel, Dock & Wharf Company, it claims that it recovered 346.04 acres of this land, including the area in question.

Missouri Pacific claims ownership of Tract I from the decendants of Rafael Garcia. Garcia obtained a large tract of land in South Texas from the Mexican Government in 1828. The Santa Isabella Grant, as it is commonly referred to, encompassed the area of present-day Port Isabel. In 1872, the State of Texas issued a patent to the heirs of Garcia confirming the Mexican land grant. Angela and Felipa Garcia (the Garcia Sisters) had the area of Port Isabel surveyed in 1875, and a city was platted by E.R. Laroche. ² The Garcia sisters conveyed blocks 74, 75, 88, and 89 to Missouri Pacific's predecessor in interest, "including the Streets and Alleys which divide the said Blocks." The railroad was also given the "Right of Way for the use of said Railroad ... commencing at Garcia Street, but exclusive of same, on the Railroad Avenue and going to the Laguna Madre, the same being (1020) one thousand and twenty feet in length and two hundred and twenty[-]two feet in width...." [emphasis ours]

One may not convey more than one owns. The metes and bounds description of the Santa Isabella Grant, recited in the 1872 patent, ³ starts at a point "in the prairie" "at a large Ebony Post." It is true that the "Ebony Post" cannot now be found, and therefore the exact boundaries of the grant cannot be surveyed. Nevertheless, some portions of the grant's boundaries are subject to precise demarcation. The Santa Isabella Grant follows "the meanders of the Laguna Madre."

Under either Mexican civil law or Texas law, a grantee from the sovereign who takes to the shoreline does not have title to submerged lands. See Luttes v. Texas, 159 Tex. 500, 324 S.W.2d 167 (1958); Giles v. Basore, 154 Tex. 366, 278 S.W.2d 830 (1955); Lorino v. Crawford Packing Co., 142 Tex. 51, 175 S.W.2d 410 (1943); Rosborough v. Picton, 12 Tex.Civ.App. 113, 34 S.W. 791 (1896, no writ).

There appears to be some confusion by both parties regarding this rule, as is demonstrated by much concern over where the shoreline was in 1828. However, the location of the shoreline, wherever it may be at any given time, represents the boundary of a littoral owner's property. See Coastal Industrial Water Authority v. York, 532 S.W.2d 949, 951-52, n. 1 (Tex.1976); State v. Balli, 144 Tex. 195, 190 S.W.2d 71, 100 (1944); City of Corpus Christi v. Davis, 622 S.W.2d 640, 644 (Tex.App.--Austin 1981, writ ref'd n.r.e.). If, over the years, the Laguna Madre has eroded the shoreline of Port Isabel, the newly submerged lands became property of the State or its successor in title. City of Corpus Christi v. Davis, 622 S.W.2d at 644. Therefore, the eastern boundary of Missouri Pacific's land is the shoreline of the Laguna Madre, wherever it may be. If the present-day shoreline cuts through blocks 88 and 89, then Missouri Pacific, or its successor in title, owns landward from the shoreline. Likewise, the State, or its successor in title, owns seaward from the shoreline.

The State had the power, through the Legislature, to convey title to the submerged lands in the Laguna Madre. Lorino v. Crawford Packing Co., 175 S.W.2d at 414. In 1931, the Legislature authorized the sale of certain submerged lands around Port Isabel for the purpose of building "wharves, wharehouses, and other improvements." A patent was issued the same year conveying to the City of Port Isabel 1172 acres of submerged land adjacent to the City and under the waters of the Laguna Madre. The patent partially describes the boundaries as "with the present shoreline of the Laguna Madre and in its meanders...."

Since the Garcia Sisters did not own any submerged lands, they conveyed none to Missouri Pacific's predecessor. Missouri Pacific, or its successors in title, own only to the shoreline.

The heirs of the Garcia Sisters, whomever they may be, are not parties to this lawsuit. Therefore, the trial court erred in adjudicating ownership or title to the so-called "Right-of-Way" over Railroad Avenue or to any of the lands lying landward of the shoreline. See Tex.R.Civ.Proc. 39. Furthermore, the parties do not appear to be litigating title to any non-submerged lands. For this additional reason, the trial court erred in granting more relief than that sought, or which it could legally grant.

The State of Texas has title to all submerged lands of all bays, inlets, and other waters along the Gulf of Mexico, including the Laguna Madre. Lorino v. Crawford Packing Co., 175 S.W.2d at 413; Butler v. Sadler, 399 S.W.2d 411 (Tex.Civ.App.--Corpus Christi 1966, writ ref'd n.r.e.). As stated earlier, the sole power to convey such submerged lands lies with the Legislature. In 1931, the Legislature chose to convey certain submerged lands around the City of Port Isabel to the City. The City's first point of error is sustained.

By its second point of error, the City claims that Missouri Pacific lost title to any property claimed through the Garcia Sisters due to erosion of the shoreline. The City argues that erosion of the shoreline was conclusively proven, or in the alternative, that the failure to so find is against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. It is true that a littoral owner will lose title to land gradually eroded by an encroaching shoreline. City of Corpus Christi v. Davis, 622 S.W.2d at 644. Missouri Pacific claims that its predecessor in title acquired fee simple title to blocks 88 and 89. The extent of Missouri Pacific's present seaward boundaries as to blocks 88 and 89 depends upon the current location of the shoreline. The City owns the submerged portions of blocks 88, 89, and Railroad Avenue. The City's second point of error is sustained to the extent that it can be, without evidence of the present location of the shoreline. Since neither party offered in evidence a map or plat showing the present day boundaries of the...