Cronkhite v. Falkenstein
| Decision Date | 10 May 1960 |
| Docket Number | No. 38683,38683 |
| Citation | 352 P.2d 396 |
| Parties | J. T. CRONKHITE, Plaintiff in Error, v. R. A. FALKENSTEIN, Defendant in Error. |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court.
1. Mineral deeds are to be construed and interpreted as other conveyances and contracts, and all rights claimed by grantee which are not conferred in direct terms or by fair implication are to be considered withheld.
2. A contract must be so interpreted as to give effect to the mutual intention of the parties, as it existed at the time of contracting. 15 O.S.1951 § 152.
3. The words of a contract are to be understood in their ordinary and popular sense, rather than according to their strict legal meaning, unless used by the parties in a technical sense, or unless a special meaning is given to them by usage, in which case the latter must be followed. 15 O.S.1951 § 160.
4. Under rule of ejusdem generis, where a party or author in a contract or conveyance first uses terms evidently confined and limited to a particular class or species of things, and then subjoins a term of very extensive signification, such term, however general and comprehensive in its possible import, yet, when thus used, embraces things only ejusdem generis, i. e., of the same kind of species with those comprehended by the preceding limited terms.
5. Under rule of ejusdem generis, mineral deed conveying 'oil, gas and other minerals' did not include gypsum rock.
6. In an equitable action, the trial court's findings and judgment will not be disturbed on appeal unless clearly against the weight of the evidence.
Appeal from the District Court of Blaine County; Tom R. Blaine, Judge.
Action by plaintiff, J. T. Cronkhite, to construe a mineral deed, to quiet title to certain minerals, and for an accounting. From judgment for defendant, R. A. Falkenstein, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.
E. Blumhagen, Watonga, George H. Bowen, Tulsa, for plaintiff in error.
Fred V. Shirley, Watonga, for defendant in error.
This is an appeal by J. T. Cronkhite, plaintiff, from judgment for defendant, R. A. Falkenstein, in an action to construe a mineral deed from defendant to plaintiff, to quiet title to certain minerals, and for an accounting.
Plaintiff sold certain land to defendant in 1943, taking the abolve-mentioned mineral deed from defendant in lieu of reserving same. It is plaintiff's contention that the said mineral deed should be construed to include gypsum rock, large quantities of which were sold by defendant to various contractors and removed from the land by open-pit mining or quarrying in the year 1957.
The mineral deed, which was prepared by plaintiff's agent on a printed form designated 'Mid-Continent Royalty Owners Association Approved Form Revised', conveyed an undivided one-half interest
'in and to all of the oil, gas and other minerals in and under that may be produced from the following described lands, * * *, containing 240 acres, more or less, together with the right of ingress and egress at all times for the purpose of mining, drilling, exploring, operating and developing said lands for oil, gas, and other minerals, and storing, handling, transporting and marketing the same therefrom with the right to remove from said land all of Grantee's property and improvements.'
The deed further provided:
'This sale is made subject to any rights now existing to any lessee or assigns under any valid and subsisting oil and gas lease of record heretofore executed; it being understood and agreed that said Grantee shall have, receive, and enjoy the herein granted undivided interest in and to all bonuses, rents, royalties and other benefits which may accrue under the terms of said lease insofar as it covers the above described land from and after the date hereof, precisely as if the Grantee herein had been at the date of the making of said lease the owner of a similar undivided interest in and to the lands described and Grantee one of the lessors therein.'
'Grantor agrees to execute such further assurances as may be requisite for the full and complete enjoyment of the rights herein granted and likewise agrees that Grantee herein shall have the right at any time to redeem for said Grantor by payment, any mortgage, taxes, or other liens on the above-described land, upon default in payment by Grantor, and be subrogated to the rights of the holder thereof.'
We have held that oil and gas leases, and deeds, are to be construed and interpreted as other contracts, and that all rights claimed by the lessee (grantee) which are not conferred in direct terms or by fair implication are to be considered withheld. Hammett Oil Co. v. Gypsy Oil Co., 95 Okl. 235, 218 P. 501, 34 A.L.R. 275; George v. Curtain, 108 Okl. 281, 236 P. 876; Jennings v. Amerada Petroleum Corporation, 179 Okl. 561, 66 P.2d 1069.
In construing contracts or conveyances, the primary purpose is to give effect to the mutual intention of the parties, as it existed at the time of contracting. 15 O.S.1951 § 152.
The precise question, therefore, is whether the language in the mineral deed, 'oil, gas and other minrerals,' was intended to include or exclude gypsum rock.
Plaintiff contends that gypsum is a...
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...sic is not properly applicable where the result would be contrary to the plain and clear intention of the parties." Cronkhite v. Falkenstein, Okl., 352 P.2d 396 (1960). The landowners introduced much testimony to show precisely that landowners had no intention whatever respecting helium, an......
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...all the oil, petroleum gas, coal, asphalt and all other minerals of every kind and character does not include gravel; Cronkhite v. Falkenstein, Okl., 352 P.2d 396 (1960)--mineral deed for "oil, gas and other minerals" does not include gypsum rock; and Holland v. Dolese Co., Okl., 540 P.2d 5......
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...gravel belonged to the mineral kingdom and is similar by nature, it is not to be regarded as a mineral. More recently, in Cronkhite v. Falkenstein (Okla.), 352 P.2d 396, this Court again applied the rule of ejusdem generis in deciding that a mineral deed which conveyed 'oil, gas and other m......
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...Supreme Court has held that "oil and gas leases, ... are to be construed and interpreted as other contracts." Cronkhite v. Falkenstein, 352 P.2d 396, 398 (Okla.1960). 3 The language in a contract is given its plain and ordinary meaning unless some technical term is used in a manner meant to......