Lyle v. Patterson
| Decision Date | 21 February 1910 |
| Docket Number | 2,996. |
| Citation | 176 F. 909 |
| Parties | LYLE v. PATTERSON et al. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Edwin J. Stason (Madison B. Davis, on the brief), for appellant.
W. D Boies, for appellees.
Before SANBORN, Circuit Judge, and RINER and WM. H. MUNGER, District judges.
WM. H MUNGER, District Judge.
This case was tried in the court below upon an agreed statement of facts, from which it appears that on May 12, 1864, Congress passed an act (Act May 12, 1864, c. 84, 13 Stat. 72) granting lands to the state of Iowa, to aid in the construction of a railroad, from Sioux City in said state to the south line of the state of Minnesota, at such point as the said state of Iowa may select between the Big Sioux and the west fork of the Des Moines river, also, to said state for the use and benefit of the McGregor Western Railroad Company for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad from a point in South McGregor, in said state, in a westerly direction, by the most practical route, on or near the Forty-Third parallel of north latitude, until it shall intersect the said road running from Sioux City to the Minnesota state line, in the county of O'Brien, in said state, every alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, for 10 consecutive sections in width on each side of said roads, to which the right of pre-emption or homestead settlement had not attached at the time of the definite location of such roads, and where any such alternate sections, within said 10-mile limit, had been sold or pre-emption or homestead settlements attached at the time of the definite location of the road thereon, the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to select as indemnity therefor other lands in alternate sections within limits of 20 miles of said roads. On April 20, 1866, the General Assembly of the state of Iowa accepted said grant, and on the 19th day of September, 1866, the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad Company filed in the office of the Secretary of State of Iowa its acceptance of the grant of Congress and the acts of the General Assembly of the state of Iowa, relating thereto, upon the terms, conditions, and limitations therein contained, and on the 27th day of September, 1866, the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad Company commenced the location of its line of railroad in Sioux City, and on October 4, 1866, completed the location to the southern line of the state of Minnesota, in section 12, township 100 north, range 41 west, of the Fifth P.M. On the 2d of April, 1867, said Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad Company certified to the map of location and filed the same in the office of the Secretary of State of Iowa which was afterwards certified to by the Governor and Secretary of the State of Iowa, and filed in the office of the Secretary of the Interior of the United States, and the same was duly accepted by the Secretary of the Interior as the basis for the adjustment of the land grant made to the state of Iowa. And the lands so granted to the state of Iowa within the odd-numbered sections within the limits of 20 miles on each side of said road, as located on said map, were withdrawn from sale or entry under the pre-emption and homestead laws, and the price of the even-numbered sections of land within the 10-mile limit was increased to $2.50 per acre. In September, 1867, said map, together with letter of withdrawal, was received by the register of the Land Office at Sioux City, Iowa.
In 1872 the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad Company commenced the construction of its railroad from a connection with the St Paul & Sioux City Railroad at the southern line of the state of Minnesota, at or near the southwest corner of section 31, township 101, range 40, on the southern line of said state of Minnesota, and constructed the same in a southerly direction to the town of Le Mars, in the state of Iowa, but did not construct its road between Le Mars and Sioux City, but operated through trains over another line of road already constructed between said towns. Whenever 10 consecutive miles of road were constructed, the same was duly certified to the Secretary of the Interior, and patents were issued by the United States to the state of Iowa for lands within the limits of the grant opposite the sections so constructed. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, by certain acts of the Legislature of the state of Iowa, became the successor of the McGregor Western Railroad Company and completed the construction of its road from McGregor to a point of intersection with the said Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad Company, and in 1879 the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company commenced, in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Iowa, an action against the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad Company and certain officers and trustees of the state of Iowa, to have adjusted the rights to lands within the overlapping limits of the respective railroad companies. Said action was prosecuted through the Circuit and Supreme Court of the United States, and in May, 1886, a decree was entered pursuant to a mandate of the Supreme Court, apportioning the lands between the two companies. The particular lands involved in this action were by said proceedings assigned to the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad Company. Subsequently the state of Iowa, by its General Assembly, relinquished to the United States all the lands which had not been earned by the railroad companies under said grants.
On March 3, 1887, Congress passed an act entitled 'An act to provide for the adjustment of land grants made by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads and for the forfeiture of unearned lands, and for other purposes. ' Act March 3, 1887, c. 376, 24 Stat. 556 (U.S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1595). The first section of the act authorized and directed the Secretary of the Interior to immediately adjust in accordance with the decisions of the Supreme Court each of the railroad land grants made by Congress to aid in the construction of railroads, which had not theretofore been adjusted. The second section provided that, upon the completion of said adjustment, if it should appear that lands had been from any cause erroneously certified or patented by the United States for the use or benefit of any company claiming by, through, or under grant from the United States, to aid in the construction of a railroad, the Secretary of the Interior should demand from such company a relinquishment or reconveyance to the United States of all such lands, whether within granted or indemnity limits, and, if any such company should neglect or fail to reconvey within 90 days after such demand, it was made the duty of the Attorney General to commence and prosecute in the proper courts necessary proceedings to cancel all patents, certifications, or other evidence of title, theretofore issued for said lands, and to restore the title thereof to the United States.
By the fourth section of the act it was provided that lands erroneously certified or patented, and which had been sold by the grantee company to citizens of the United States or persons who had declared their intention to become such citizens, the person or persons so purchasing in good faith, heirs or assigns, should be entitled to the lands so purchased upon making proof of the fact of such purchase at the proper land office within such time and under such rules as might be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior after the grants respectively should have been adjusted and patents of the United States should issue therefor, and should relate back to the date of the original certification or patent, and the Secretary of the Interior, on behalf of the United States, should demand payment from the company which had so disposed of such lands for an amount equal to the government price of similar lands. By section 5 it was provided that, where any company should have sold to citizens of the United States or to persons who have declared their intention to become such citizens, as a part of its grant lands, not conveyed to or for the use of such company, and such lands being the numbered sections described in the grant, and being coterminous with the constructed parts of said roads, and where the lands so sold were for any reason excepted from the operation of the grant to said company, it should be lawful for the bona fide purchaser thereof from said company to make payment to the United States for said lands at the ordinary government price for like lands, and thereupon patents should issue therefor to said bona fide purchaser, his heirs or assigns.
In February, 1873, the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad Company selected the tract in controversy with other lands as and for a part of the lands inuring to it under said act of Congress of May 12, 1864, and filed a written list of said selection with the register and receiver of the Land Office at Sioux City, Iowa. Said officers, in March, 1873, allowed and approved the filing of said list and certified the same as being within the 10-mile limits of said grant and as being free and clear of homestead, pre-emption, state, or other valid claims, which list was duly transmitted to the Commissioner of the General Land Office. The Commissioner of the General Land Office, in June, 1873, approved the said selection and transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior a list embracing...
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