Durango Land & Coal Co. v. Evans

• Decision Date: 12 April 1897
• Docket Number: 854.
• Parties: DURANGO LAND & COAL CO. v. EVANS et al. [1]
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

80 F. 425

DURANGO LAND & COAL CO. v. EVANS et al. ^[1]

No. 854.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

April 12, 1897

This was a bill filed by the Durango Land & Coal Company, the appellant, in the circuit court of the United States for the district of Colorado, against Roger C. Evans, Reese G Carlisle, John Tetard, Sprigg Shackleford, and Frank Adams the appellees, to restrain them from prosecuting any suits at law against the appellant, with respect to certain coal lands which were alleged to be in the possession of the appellant and to restrain them as well from making any conveyance either by way of sale or mortgage, affecting the title to said lands. The bill further prayed that the appellees, who held the legal title to said lands under a patent theretofore issued by the United States, might be adjudged to hold the same in trust for the appellant, and that they might be compelled to transfer all their right, title, and interest in said lands to the appellant. The grounds upon which such relief was asked were thus stated in the complaint: It was averred, in substance, that on December 1, 1881, Byron McMaster made a cash entry of the lands in controversy, the same being situated in Gunnison county, Colo., by paying to the receiver of the land office of the United States, at Leadville, Colo., the price demanded therefor, as fixed by the laws of the United States; that, on or about said last named day, the usual duplicate final receipt for the money so paid was issued by said receiver to the said McMaster; that on or about December 26, 1882, said receiver's receipt was duly recorded in the official records of Gunnison county, Colo.; that on or about December 26, 1881, William A. Bell, as trustee, purchased the lands in controversy from said McMaster for value, and received a warranty deed therefor, without notice of any adverse claims thereto; that on or about January 1, 1882, said Bell leased said lands for the term of 99 years to the Colorado Coal & Iron Company, a corporation of Colorado; that said lessee entered into possession of said lands under said lease, opened and developed coal mines thereon, and expended in improvements about $250,000; that ever since said date the Colorado Coal & Iron Company, or its transferee, the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, or the complainant, the Durango Land & Coal Company, had been, and then were, in the open, actual, notorious, and continuous possession of said lands, and had been engaged during said period in mining and extracting coal therefrom; that during all of said period the complainant, or its predecessors in interest, had paid all taxes and assessments levied thereon; and that on or about the 8th day of January, 1885, the lands in controversy were duly conveyed by the aforesaid William A. Bell to the complainant, the Durango Land & Coal Company, which had purchased the same for value and in good faith, in reliance upon the title thus acquired by it from said Bell, under and by virtue of the aforesaid entry made by the said Byron McMaster.

The bill of complaint contained the following additional averments, stating the same in haec verba: '(6) And your orator, further complaining of the said defendants, says that on or about, to wit, the 27th day of June, 1892, and nearly ten years after the said entry of and payment for said lands by the said McMaster, and after the said improvements had been made as aforesaid thereon, said defendant Roger C Evans, fraudulently and wrongfully claiming, or pretending to claim, some interest in said lands adverse to the title of your orator, filed in the local land office of the United States at Leadville, in said state of Colorado, an affidavit to the effect that he (the said Evans) had, at some time previous thereto, filed a coal declaratory statement on said lands, and, among other things, alleged therein, upon information and belief, that said entry of the said McMaster was not made for his own use and benefit, and he (the said Evans) made application therein to enter said lands himself. But your orator alleges that at some time prior to the entry of said lands by the said McMaster, and on or about, to wit, the 21st day of October, 1880, the said Evans filed in the United States land office at Leadville, in said state of Colorado, a paper purporting to be a coal declaratory statement, in which he (the said Evans) stated, among other things, that he had discovered and developed coal mines on said lands, and had taken possession of said lands, which statements, your orator alleges, were willfully and knowingly false and untrue, in this, to wit: that he, (the said Evans) never discovered any coal thereon, and never took possession of said lands or any part thereof, and never made any improvements of any kind or description thereon; and therefore your orator says that the said pretended entry and filing of the said Evans were fraudulent and void, and that he (the said Evans) acquired no rights thereby. And your orator further alleges that the said Evans, after filing the said pretended coal declaratory statement, wholly and completely abandoned the said lands and all claims thereto, and absolutely failed to make or attempt to make any final proof of payment therefor within the time, and as required by the coal land laws of the United States, although he was duly notified by the said land office to appear and show cause why his said pretended filing should not be canceled. (7) And your orator alleges that on or about the 27th day of June, 1892, the said defendants, who, during all the time aforesaid, resided near said lands in controversy, and had personal observation and knowledge, at the time they transpired, of all facts hereinbefore stated relating to the said lands, and to the said entry of the said McMaster, and to the purchase of the said lands by the said Bell and your orator, and of the lease and of the operations and improvements carried on and made as aforesaid, conspired and confederated together, for speculative purposes and in bad faith, to deceive the land department of the United States, and to unlawfully and fraudulently obtain from the United States a pretended title to said lands, and to defraud your orator and said lessee of their rights therein, and to unlawfully and fraudulently obtain the benefit of the improvements so made as aforesaid, and to extort from them large sums of money; and, so conspiring and confederating together for said purposes, they, the said defendants, made, or procured to be made, and presented to and filed in the said United States land office, certain statements, applications, and affidavits, alleging, among other things, that said Evans had expended money in developing coal mines on said lands, and that he was at that time in actual possession of said lands, and that he made the entry for his own use and benefit, and not directly or indirectly for the use and benefit of any other party; whereas, in truth and in fact, * * * the said Evans had never opened or developed any coal mine or mines on said lands, and never discovered any coal thereon, and he was not then, nor had he ever been, in the actual or other possession of said lands or any part thereof; and that he (the said Evans) did not make said entry for his own use or benefit. But your orator alleges that, on the contrary, the only coal ever discovered on said lands, or any part thereof, was discovered by your orator, its grantor, or said lessee or transferee; and that the only coal mines ever developed or existing or opened on said lands, or any part thereof, were opened, developed, and worked by your orator, or its grantor or lessee or transferee, as aforesaid; and that said Evans made said pretended entry for the joint use and benefit of himself and the other defendants herein, and under and in pursuance of a prior agreement made by and between them, to the effect that said lands and all pretended claims against your orator and said lessee or transferee should, upon entry and patent, be divided between them. And your orator is informed and believes, and so alleges, that said defendants, and each and every of them, were at said time, are now, disqualified to enter the said coal lands, or any other coal lands, by reason of the fact that they and each of them had previously exhausted their right in that respect. (8) And your orator further alleges that, deceived, misled, and imposed upon by the said false and fraudulent statements, applications, and affidavits of the said parties as aforesaid, and without notice either to the said McMaster, or to the said Bell, or to the said lessee or transferee, and without any appearance on behalf of them or any of them therein, the said land department of the United States, contrary to law, and in violation of the statutes of the United States in such case made and provided, proceeded, or pretended to proceed, to a so-called 'hearing' or 'contest' to determine the respective rights of the said McMaster's and Evans' entry; that such proceedings were thereupon had in said pretended contest or hearing that the United States land department canceled, or pretended to cancel, the said entry of the said McMaster, and did, on or about the 31st day of December, 1894, allow, or attempt to allow, the said entry of the said Evans, and thereafter, and on or about the 28th day of February, A.D. 1895, issued to him a patent for said lands, or a portion thereof. And your orator alleges that the said action, finding, and decision of the United States land department were contrary to law, and without authority of law, and were in violation of the statutes of the United States and of the rights of your orator, its grantor and lessee, among other things, in this, to wit: that by reason of the acts and things done and...