Henry Lockhart v. Johnson

• Citation: 45 L.Ed. 979,21 S.Ct. 665,181 U.S. 516
• Decision Date: 13 May 1901
• Docket Number: No. 147,147
• Parties: HENRY LOCKHART, Plff. in Err. , v. J. A. JOHNSON, Julia A. Johnson, His Wife, Charles Pilkey, et al
• Court: United States Supreme Court

181 U.S. 516

21 S.Ct. 665

45 L.Ed. 979

HENRY LOCKHART, Plff. in Err.,

v J. A. JOHNSON, Julia A. Johnson, His Wife, Charles Pilkey, et al.

No. 147.

Argued March 22, 1901.

Decided May 13, 1901.

This is an action of ejectment brought by plaintiff in error to recover certain mining property in the territory of New Mexico. The declaration alleges that the plaintiff, on July 10, 1893, was entitled to the possession of a certain mine, or deposit of mineral-bearing rock in place, situated in the Cochiti mining district, in the county of Bernalillo and territory of New Mexico, and that while so in possession the defendants, on October 1, 1893, entered into and upon the premises and have ever since withheld the possession of the same from the plaintiff to his damage. All the defendants pleaded not guilty, while Pilkey added a further plea that he was not at the time of the commencement of the action in the possession of the premises or any part thereof. The plaintiff demurred to this second plea, and after argument the demurrer was overruled. The parties went to trial upon these pleadings, and after the testimony had been taken the jury, under the instructions of the court, found a verdict for the defendants. The plaintiff appealed from the judgment entered upon the verdict to the supreme court of the territory, where it was affirmed, and he thereupon sued out a writ of error from this court.

For the purpose of the trial the parties entered into the following stipulation:

'It is stipulated and agreed by and between the plaintiff and defendants in the above-entitled cause that the premises in controversy in this case are situated within the limits of private land claim reported as number 135 in the office of the surveyor general of the territory of New Mexico, known as the Canada de Cochiti tract, as said claim was surveyed by the surveyor general, said survey having been made and approved by Clarence Pullen, surveyor general, on the date of June 29, A. D. 1885.

'It is further stipulated that said private land claim was never confirmed upon report of the surveyor general, but two petitions for the confirmation of the same were filed in the court of private land claims, one by Joel Parker Whitney, Jos e Juan Lucero, Lauriano Lucero, Juan Cristoval Lucero, Jos e de Jesus Lucero, Juan Teodora Lucero, Jos e Telesforo Lucero, Bernard S. Rodey, and Hannah Harris, being numbered 205 of the docket of the court of private land claims at Santa F e, and filed March 2, 1893; and the other petition being filed by Manuel Hurtado and Jos e Antonio Gallego on the 3d day of March, 1893, and that said petitions were consolidated in said cases heard, and decree of confirmation rendered by said court on the 29th day of September, A. D. 1894, a compared copy of which decree is attached to this stipulation.

'It is further stipulated and agreed that the said premises in controversy in this case are not included within the boundaries of said grant as confirmed by said decree.

'It is further stipulated and agreed that an appeal was taken from said decree by all of the said petitioners to the Supreme Court of the United States, in which court said cause is now pending upon said appeal and undetermined, said appeal being dated the 11th day of March, A. D. 1895.

'It is further stipulated and agreed that the official printed copies of the reports of the surveyor general to Congress upon said private land claim and all documents attached thereto may be used upon the trial of this cause to the same effect as if they were the original documents and archives on file in the surveyor general's office, subject, however, to such objection as the parties may make upon other grounds.'

The plaintiff also showed upon the trial that he and one Benjamin Johnson and the defendant Charles Pilkey on or about May 7, 1893, entered into an agreement at Albuquerque, New Mexico, by which they agreed to form a partnership for the purpose of discovering, locating, and operating mining claims, Pilkey agreeing to prospect and locate such veins and lodes and placers as he might discover, containing valuable ores or minerals, in the name and for the joint benefit of all the parties to the agreement, in the proportion of one-third interest to himself and an undivided two-thirds interest to the others. They were to furnish him with tools, etc., and to pay him for some portion of his labor upon the mines which he might discover. In pursuance of this agreement Pilkey started out and, among others, discovered, took possession of, and assumed to locate the mine in question. It is claimed on the part of the plaintiff that Pilkey, after taking possession of and locating the mine, remained there from July 10, 1893, until some time in October of that year, when in connection with several other persons he entered into a conspiracy against his partners and pursuant thereto ceased to do any work on the mine and permitted other persons (defendants herein) to take possession of it and make a relocation thereof, and that they have retained possession ever since.

Evidence was offered at the trial for the purpose of showing these last stated facts, which, under the objection of the defendants, was ruled out and exceptions duly taken.

The defendants contended that the land in controversy was at all times subject to the mining laws of the United States, and that plaintiff did not comply with the provisions thereof or of the laws of New Mexico applicable thereto, and that whatever right or title he ever had in the lands had expired and become forfeited before the defendants took possession of the land and long before the commencement of this action.

Mr. J. H. McGowan for plaintiff in error.

Mr. W. B. Childers for defendants in error.

Mr. Justice Peckham, after making the above statement of facts, delivered the opinion of the court:

The first question to be determined in this case is one which arises out of the facts set forth in the stipulation between the parties, and that is, Did the lands which the plaintiff claims to recover belong at the time of the location in 1893 to the United States within the meaning of § 2319, Revised Statutes, which provides that 'all valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and purchase, and the lands in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States,' etc.?

At the time of the location the record shows the parties believed the land was government land, and not within the limits of any Mexican grant. The stipulation shows, however, that the lands were in fact within the limits of the private land claim known as the Canada de Cochiti grant; that the grant was never confirmed by Congress upon the report of the surveyor general, and that two different sets of claimants under the grant had filed their petitions in the court of private land claims at Santa F e, one on the 2d and the other on the 3d day of March, 1893; that there was a decree of confirmation rendered by the court on September 29, 1894, and in that decree of confirmation the lands were not included within the boundaries of the grant as confirmed by that decree. An appeal was taken therefrom by all the parties to the Supreme Court of the United States, where it was pending at the time the stipulation was entered into, the appeal being dated March 11, 1895.

It therefore appears that at the time of the discovery and location of the lode in July, 1893, the Cochiti grant was before the court of private land claims for adjudication, and the question is whether by reason of that fact these lands were reserved from entry and were not subjeft to the mineral laws of the United States at that time. It will be noticed that before the trial of this case the validity and extent of the Cochiti grant had been decided by the court of private land claims, and this land was thereby excluded from the limits of that grant. We know by our own records that the decree of the court of private land claims was affirmed in this court, in substance, in Whitney v. United States, decided in May, 1897. 167 U. S. 529, 42 L. ed. 263, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 857. The contention on the part of the plaintiff in error is that while the Cochiti claim was before the court of private land claims, and thereafter until its final determination by this court, no land within its claimed limits could be entered upon under the mining laws of the United States, and if any such entry were in fact made it was illegal and void, and gave no rights under the mining laws to the parties so entering, and consequently plaintiff's possession was not subject to forfeiture under those laws. In other words, that while the claim was sub judice all lands within its limits as claimed were withdrawn and reserved from entry under any of the laws pertaining to the sale or other disposition of the public lands of the United States, and that the plaintiff, being in possession, had the right to retain it as against defendants who entered without right or title, and were therefore mere trespassers.

Public lands belonging to the United States, for whose sale or other disposition Congress has made provision by its general laws, are to be regarded as legally open for entry and sale under such laws, unless some particular lands have been withdrawn from sale by congressional authority or by an executive withdrawal under such authority, either expressed or implied. Wolsey v. Chapman, 101 U. S. 755, 769, 25 L. ed. 915, 920; Hewitt v. Schultz, 180 U. S. 139, 45 L. ed. ——, 21 Sup. Ct. Rep. 309. We must, therefore, refer to the action of Congress to discover whether lands which in fact were public lands of the United States were reserved from sale or other disposition under its public laws because they were included within the claimed limits but in fact were not within the actual limits of a grant by the Spanish or Mexican...