George Priest v. Board of Trustees of the Town of Las Vegas

• Decision Date: 09 March 1914
• Docket Number: No. 218,218
• Citation: 58 L.Ed. 751,34 S.Ct. 443,232 U.S. 604
• Parties: GEORGE E. PRIEST, Melvin W. Quick, and Charles M. Benjamin, Appts., v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE TOWN OF LAS VEGAS, in the County of San Miguel, New Mexico
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

232 U.S. 604

34 S.Ct. 443

58 L.Ed. 751

GEORGE E. PRIEST, Melvin W. Quick, and Charles M. Benjamin, Appts.,

v BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE TOWN OF LAS VEGAS, in the County of San Miguel, New Mexico.

No. 218.

Submitted January 28, 1914.

Decided March 9, 1914.

Mr. John D. W. Veeder for appellants.

Messrs. Charles A. Spiess and S. B. Davis, Jr., for appellee.

Mr. Justice McKenna delivered the opinion of the court:

Action for mandamus brought by appellants in the district court of the county of San Miguel, then in the territory of New Mexico, against appellees as trustees of the town of Las Vegas, to require them to execute a deed or deeds to the property described in the petition. The appellees filed an answer to the petition and also a counterclaim. Those papers set out the history of the Las Vegas grant, preceding and subsequent to its confirmation by the act of Congress hereinafter referred to and the final patent to the town. Motions to strike them out were overruled, and demurrers to them were also overruled. An answer having been filed to the counterclaim by appellants, portions of which were struck out by the court on motion of appellees, after hearing judgment was rendered dismissing the petition. The judgment was affirmed by the supreme court of the territory.

The petition alleges appellants to be the owners in fee simple and holders of a perfect title to the land described therein, and that it lies within the boundaries of 'the Las Vegas grant.' That they acquired the title thereto between the 4th of October, 1888, and the 1st of July, 1894, by purchase from the then owners and occupants of the several portions comprising the tract, and obtained deeds of conveyance therefor, and afterwards instituted proceedings in the district court of San Miguel county against certain named persons 'and all of the unknown claimants of interests in the lands and premises' adverse to appellants, to quiet their title to the lands, and that on September 15, 1894, a decree was duly entered in the cause confirming and establishing in them an estate in fee simple, absolute, against any and all and every adverse claim of all persons whomsoever, and quieting and setting at rest the title to the land against appellees. A copy of the decree is attached to the petition.

The petition also alleges that the Las Vegas grant was confirmed by act of Congress on June 21, 1860 [12 Stat. at L. 71, chap. 167], to the town of Las Vegas, and became thereby segregated from the public domain and the property of the grantee and its privies.

That Jefferson Reynolds, Eugenio Romero, Charles Ilfeld, Elisha V. Long, Isidor V. Gallegos, Felix Esquibel, and F. H. Pierce are the trustees of the town, duly appointed by the district court of San Miguel county under and by virtue of an act of the legislative assembly of the territory of New Mexico, entitled, 'An Act to Provide for the Management of the Las Vegas Grant, and for Other Purposes,' approved March 12, 1903, and that it was made the duty of the board of trustees to make, execute, and deliver deeds of conveyance to all persons who held a title to any lands of the grant, which became or was perfect or entitled them to the possession thereof at the time of the acquisition of New Mexico, under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, or at any time subsequent thereto.

That appellants made application to the board of trustees to execute and deliver a deed to them of the tract of land described, the title to which had become perfected by the decree hereinbefore specified, but the board declined to recognize the title of appellants and to issue the deed of conveyance asked for.

Mandamus, directed to the board, was prayed.

The ground of appellants' petition, therefore, is that they possess a perfect title established by the suit and decree referred to which entitled them to a deed from the trustees under the act of the legislative assembly of March 12, 1903. Laws of New Mexico, 1903, p. 72. That act becomes a factor for consideration. By it the district court of San Miguel county is vested with jurisdiction to manage, control, and administer the land grant. In the exercise of such jurisdiction power is conferred to appoint a board of trustees from among the residents upon the grant. Provision is made for their organization, and the court is empowered to exercise the same control over their acts as courts of equity exercise over receivers. And it is provided that 'this act shall not interfere with or prejudice any vested rights in and to any of the lands embraced within the bounds of said Las Vegas grant, or preclude a judicial examination or adjustment thereof, and it is hereby made the duty of said board of trustees to make, execute, and deliver deeds of conveyance to any and all persons who hold a title to any such lands, which became or was perfect or entitled them to the possession thereof at the time of the acquisition of New Mexico, under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo [9 Stat. at L. 922], or at any other time subsequent thereto.'

By § 9 the board has power, under the direction of the court, to lease, sell, or mortgage any part or parts of the grants, the proceeds to be used 'for such purpose as said board and court may deem to be for the best interests of the community for the benefit of which such grant was made.'

It will be seen, therefore, that the statute makes it the duty of the trustees, it may be under the direction of the court, to execute and deliver deeds of conveyance to anyone having the kind of title described; that is, which had become or was perfect, or entitled such person to land which he claimed at the time of the acquisition of New Mexico, under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, or at any other time subsequent thereto. Appellants rely upon such title, as we have seen, as established by the suit to quiet title and the decree rendered therein. A consideration of this suit and decree, therefore, becomes necessary.

The suit was brought in the district court of San Miguel county, territory of New Mexico, by appellants against certain named defendants and 'all unknown claimants of interests in the premises and lands' which were described. The complaint alleged that appellants were owners in fee simple and the occupants and possessors of the land, that it lay within the exterior boundaries of a grant of land made by the Mexican government to certain named parties in the year 1835 'for the use and benefit of the inhabitants and settlers of the town of Las Vegas;' that the grant was known in the archives of the surveyor general of New Mexico as private land claim number 20, and, as such, on June 21, 1860, duly confirmed by act of Congress of the United States to the town of Las Vegas, and thereby became segregated from the public domain. That the land described in the complaint as belonging to appellants was taken possession of by them and their grantors under and by virtue of the terms and provisions of the said Las Vegas grant, and the laws of the territory of New Mexico applicable thereto, more than ten years prior to the commencement of the suit, and that they and their grantors from whom they claim title and from whom they have deeds of conveyance have been in the actual, exclusive, open, and uninterrupted adverse possession under claim of title, and have therefore a good and indefeasible title in fee simple to the land, and are entitled to occupy and hold possession thereof.

It was alleged that certain persons, naming them, made some claim adverse to the complainants in the suit (appellants here), but what the nature and extent of their claim was complainants were unable to state. And it was alleged that there were certain unknown successors of the Fairview Town Company who made some claim of interest in and title to the land, but the nature and extent of the claim were unknown.

Then the following was alleged: 'That your orators are credibly informed and believe that certain unknown persons designated in this bill as 'unknown claimants of interests in the premises adverse to your orators' also make some claim of interest and title in and to the said tract of land adverse to the estate of your orators, but what the nature and extent of the said claim of said unknown persons in and to said tract of land is, is likewise to your orators unknown.'

It was finally alleged that all of the claims and pretenses of the defendants in the suit, known and unknown, adverse to the estate of complainants, were of no avail against their title, and constituted a cloud upon it. It was prayed that the title of complainants be established against all of the defendants, and that it be forever quieted and set at rest, and process was prayed.

An affidavit for publication of process was filed in which it was recited, among other things, 'that the place of residence is unknown and the whereabouts cannot be discovered of any and all of the defendants designated as unknown claimants of interest in the premises and lands described in the bill of complaint, who claim adversely to the complainants, George E. Priest, Melvin W. Quick, and Charles M. Benjamin.'

Publication was made. There was no appearance on the part of any of the defendants, and the bill of complaint was ordered to be taken as confessed; and it was decreed that all of the defendants were brought before the court by proper process, and that the court had jurisdiction of them, whether known or unknown, and jurisdiction of the subject-matter of the suit; that the land lay within the exterior boundaries of the Las Vegas grant, as described, was confirmed by Congress as alleged, and that in consequence of the grant and confirmation the land was segregated from the public domain and became and was the private property of the grantees and their privies. That the complainants in the suit and their grantors from whom they claimed and from whom they had deeds of conveyance were in the adverse possession of the land as alleged, and that as a...