"That
at all the dates and times hereinafter mentioned the
defendants Wellington G. Howell and Willard N. Jones were
except as hereinafter stated, and now are, the owners of
the following described tract of real estate situated in
Harney county, state of Oregon [omitting description].
"That
at all times hereinafter mentioned the said tract of land
was, and now is, surrounded with a fence, which incloses
not only the said Howell tract, but also about 80 acres of
land which the plaintiffs have under lease from one Horton
and commonly known as the Horton tract, and also includes
several hundred acres of meander land between the said
Howell tract and the said Malheur Lake, and which said
meander land belongs to the government of the United
States.
"That
on the 16th day of January, 1915, the said Wellington G
Howell and Willard N. Jones, for value received, duly made
executed, and delivered to one C. A. Haines their certain
mortgage in writing on the above-described Howell tract, to
secure the payment of a debt of $10,000, which said
defendants were then owing to the said Haines, and
thereafter, and on February 26, 1915, the said mortgage was
duly recorded in the records of real estate mortgages for
Harney county, Or.
"That
on March 18, 1916, the said C. A. Haines, as plaintiff
instituted a suit in the circuit court of the state of Oregon
for the county of Harney against Wellington G. Howell,
Willard N. Jones, and others, as defendants, for the purpose
of foreclosing the above-described mortgage and having the
mortgaged premises sold at sheriff's sale and execution
for the purpose of satisfying the said debt of $10,000, with
interest and costs, and thereafter such proceedings were had
in said court in the said suit that on the 14th day of April,
1916, a judgment and decree in foreclosure was duly rendered
in said cause in favor of the said C. A. Haines and against
the said defendants in said suit, for the sum of $10,413, and
the further sum of $740 attorney fees, and $20.50 costs, and
which said judgment was duly enrolled and docketed in the
judgment docket of said court, and in and by said decree it
was adjudged and decreed that the sheriff of Harney county
should sell the above-described Howell tract at sheriff's
sale on execution for the purpose of paying the said
judgment.
"That
thereafter an execution on said judgment was duly issued out
of the said circuit court by the clerk thereof, under seal of
said court, and signed by the county clerk of Harney county,
Or., and directed to the sheriff of said county, ordering and
directing the said sheriff to sell the said mortgaged
premises at sheriff's sale on execution in the manner
provided by law, for the purpose of satisfying the said
judgment, and said execution was duly received by the said
sheriff and thereafter, and on July 22, 1916, the said
sheriff, acting under said execution, did duly seize and levy
upon the said Howell tract of land for the purpose of
carrying out the orders contained in said execution.
"That
thereafter, and on August 24, 1916, the said sheriff, after
giving public notice as required by the laws of the state of
Oregon, duly sold the said tract of real estate at public
auction in the manner provided by the laws of the state of
Oregon to the plaintiffs herein for the sum of $13,100, and
did then and there, at the request of the plaintiffs, execute
and deliver to the plaintiff W. E. Smith a proper
sheriff's certificate of sale for said real estate, and
thereafter the said sheriff duly made and filed his report of
said sale and his return on said execution with the county
clerk of Harney county, Or., and thereafter, and on October
25, 1916, the said execution sale was duly confirmed by order
of the circuit court for Harney county, Or.
"That
immediately after said execution sale the plaintiffs entered
into possession of said premises under the said sheriff's
certificate of sale, and found the said premises to consist
of a tract of pasture and hay land, but the said tract had
been neglected for years and was in a run-down condition, and
the fences were out of repair and broken down, and the said
tract was open to the public range and was in no condition to
produce crops, and had not produced crops for a great many
years immediately prior thereto, and the taxes were
delinquent upon the said tract, and the title to a portion of
said tract was defective, and the entire tract was in such a
run-down and neglected condition that it was not fit for
husbandry, and the reasonable rental value of the entire
tract was not worth more than $500 per year.
"That
the plaintiffs, upon taking possession of said tract of land,
paid the delinquent taxes thereon and perfected the title
thereto, and cleared the ground by burning dead grass and
tules and furnished posts, wire, and labor, and repaired the
fences on said premises, and put the same in condition to
turn live stock, and in general expended a great deal of
work, labor, and money in clearing off and repairing the said
premises and putting the same in a condition for producing
crops, and all of which repairs were absolutely necessary to
put the said premises in a cropping condition, and plaintiffs
were out over $2,000 in such work, labor, and expense, and
all of which expenditures were absolutely necessary to put
the said premises in proper condition to produce a crop
thereon and make them fit for the purpose for which said
premises had always been used.
"That
plaintiffs continued to hold the said premises under their
said sheriff's certificate of sale, and to farm and care
for said premises until the 15th day of September, 1917, and
during that period the plaintiffs, by reason of their work
and labor in repairing, preparing, and caring for the said
premises, were able to and did cause a large crop of wild hay
to grow thereon, and actually put up and harvested about 600
tons of hay on the said Howell tract, and about 100 tons of
hay on the said meander lands, and about 50 tons of hay on
the said Horton tract, and which said hay was and is worth
from $5 to $10 per ton, and plaintiffs necessarily expended
over $2,500 for the necessary expenses of cutting,
harvesting, and putting up the said crop.
"That
on the 15th day of September, 1917, the defendant Pacific
Live Stock Company furnished the defendants, Wellington G.
Howell and Willard N. Jones with the necessary funds for
redeeming said premises, and the said Howell and Jones did
then and there redeem the said Howell premises from said
execution sale, by paying the plaintiffs the sum of
$14,836.38, being the purchase price of said premises, with
the interest, taxes, and cost of perfecting title, and the
said Howell and Jones did then and there receive certificate
of redemption to said property and again entered into the
possession of the same and also took possession of the said
meander land and the said Horton tract, inclosed with the
said Howell lands.
"That
at the date of said redemption the plaintiffs had cut and
severed all of the hay from the soil on all of said premises,
and had the same nearly all in stacks, but the stacking of a
small part of said hay was completed after the said date of
redemption, and at the time said redemption was made the
plaintiffs had cut from the said Howell land and stacked
thereon 14 stacks of hay, containing about 600 tons, and had
cut from the said meander land and stacked thereon 2 stacks
of hay, containing about 100 tons, and had cut from the said
Horton tract and stacked thereon one stack of hay, containing
about 50 tons, and said stacks as they were put up were each
and all separately inclosed with stock-proof post and wire
fence, and the material and labor for which was furnished by
plaintiffs.
"That
immediately upon said redemption being made the defendants
Howell and Jones mortgaged the said Howell premises to the
defendant Pacific Live Stock Company for $20,000, and had
also then and there turned the possession of said Howell
premises and of said meander lands and of said Horton tract,
with plaintiffs' 750 tons of hay thereon, over to the
said Pacific Live Stock Company under some contract or
understanding with said company, the exact terms and nature
of which are unknown to these plaintiffs, but plaintiffs are
informed and believe, and therefore allege the fact to be,
that the said corporation agreed to protect the said Howell
and Jones against any claims of these plaintiffs, and to
assume any obligation which the said Howell and Jones might
be found to be owing the plaintiffs and growing out of the
redemption of said premises.
"That
on the 16th day of November, 1917, the said Pacific Live
Stock Company, for some reason unknown to these plaintiffs
served a written notice upon plaintiffs ordering and
directing them to keep off from the said premises, and not to
come thereon, and not to touch or interfere with the hay
which plaintiffs had...
