Purdum v. Laddin

• Decision Date: 05 December 1899
• Citation: 59 P. 153,23 Mont. 387
• Parties: PURDUM v. LADDIN et al.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

59 P. 153

23 Mont. 387

PURDUM v. LADDIN et al.

Supreme Court of Montana

December 5, 1899

Appeal from district court, Madison county; M. H. Parker, Judge.

Action by James W. Purdum against A. Laddin and others. From an order sustaining defendants' motion for a new trial plaintiff appeals. Affirmed.

R. B Smith and L. D. Hall, for appellant.

J. E Healey, for respondents.

PER CURIAM.

The plaintiff, claiming ownership, except as against the United States, of the Cataract lode-mining claim, situate in Madison county, brought this action to recover possession thereof from the defendants. The answer denies that plaintiff is the owner, and puts in issue the validity of the location under which the plaintiff asserts title, and avers that the defendants are owners of the Cliff lode-mining claim, which embraces the ground alleged by the plaintiff to be included within the exterior boundaries of the supposed location of the Cataract lodemining claim. A verdict for the plaintiff was set aside, and a new trial granted. The plaintiff appeals.

During the progress of the trial the plaintiff offered in evidence the declaratory statement of the location of the Cataract lode-mining claim, containing the following reference to the corners: "This location is distinctly marked on the ground, so that its boundaries can be readily traced by a stake set at discovery shaft, where this notice and statement is posted this 15 day of October, A. D. 1895, and by substantial posts or monuments of stone at each corner of the claim, and the exterior boundaries of the claim, as marked by said posts or monuments, are as follows, to wit: Beginning at the N.E. Corner, No. 1, a nut pine tree on the south bank of Cataract creek, abt. 1/2 mile S.W. of Mammoth Lake, and extending 1,500 feet in a westerly direction to N.W. corner No. 2, on the southwest bank of Cataract Lake; thence southerly direction, 600 feet, to corner No. 3; thence easterly 1,500 feet to corner No. 4, which corner is a balsam, a fir tree; thence north 600 feet to place of beginning." The defendants objected to the introduction of the declaratory statement for the reason, among others, that it does not comply with section 3612 of the Political Code of Montana, in that it fails to show the location and description of each corner, with the markings thereon. The objection was overruled, the declaratory statement admitted in evidence, and the defendants excepted. The order sustaining the motion for a new trial was granted upon the sole ground that the court erred in admitting the declaratory statement.

In granting a new trial, the district court did not err. Section 3612 of the Political Code provides that, within 90 days from the date of posting upon the claim the location notice required by section 3611, there must be filed with the county clerk a declaratory statement, which must contain, among other things: "7. The location and description of each corner, with the markings...