St. Paul & Chicago Railway Company v. Brown

• Decision Date: 14 April 1877
• Citation: St. Paul & Chicago Railway Company v. Brown, 24 Minn. 517 (Minn. 1877)
• Parties: St. Paul & Chicago Railway Company v. Charles T. Brown and others
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

24 Minn. 517

St. Paul & Chicago Railway Company v. Charles T. Brown and others

Supreme Court of Minnesota

April 14, 1877

By an act of congress, approved September 28, 1850, (9 St. at Large, 519,) it is provided:

"That to enable the state of Arkansas to construct the necessary levees and drains to reclaim the swamp and over-flowed lands therein, the whole of those swamp and over-flowed lands, made unfit thereby for cultivation, which shall remain unsold at the passage of this act, shall be and the same are hereby granted to said state.

"Sec 2.That it shall be the duty of the secretary of the interior, as soon as may be practicable after the passage of this act, to make out an accurate list and plats of the lands described as aforesaid, and transmit the same to the governor of the state of Arkansas, and, at the request of said governor, cause a patent to be issued to the state therefor and on that patent, the fee simple of said lands shall vest in the said state of Arkansas, subject to the disposal of the legislature thereof: provided, however, that the proceeds of said lands, whether from sale or by direct appropriation in kind, shall be applied exclusively, as far as necessary, to the purpose of reclaiming said lands by means of the levees and drains aforesaid.

"Sec 3.That in making out a list and plats of the land aforesaid all legal subdivisions, the greater part of which is wet and unfit for cultivation, shall be included in said list and plats; but when the greater part of a subdivision is not of that character, the whole of it shall be excluded therefrom.

"Sec 4.That the provisions of this act be extended to, and their benefits be conferred upon, each of the other states of the union in which such swamp and overflowed lands, known and designated as aforesaid, may be situated."

By a subsequent act, approved March 12, 1860, (12 St. at Large, 3,) it is enacted:

"That the provisions of the act of congress entitled 'An act to enable the state of Arkansas and other states to reclaim the swamp-lands within their limits,' approved September 28, 1850, be, and the same are hereby extended to the states of Minnesota and Oregon: provided, that the grant hereby made shall not include any lands which the government of the United States may have reserved, sold or disposed of (in pursuance of any law heretofore enacted) prior to the confirmation of title to be made under the authority of the said act.

"Sec. 2.That the selection to be made from lands already surveyed in each of the states, including Minnesota and Oregon, under the authority of the act aforesaid, and of the act to aid the state of Louisiana in draining the swamp-lands therein, approved March 2, 1849, shall be made within two years from the adjournment of the legislature of each state, at its next session after the date of this act; and as to all lands hereafter to be surveyed, within two years from such adjournment at the next session after notice by the secretary of the interior to the governor of the state that the surveys have been completed and confirmed."

The Minnesota Hospital for Insane was established by Laws 1866, c. 6, (SeeGen. St. 1878, c. 35, tit. 3,) and placed in charge of a board of trustees created by that act, the appointment of the trustees being vested in the governor of the state, with the advice and consent of the senate, their term of office being fixed at six years, and the board to be organized by the election of a president and secretary from their own number.It is provided in the act that the board shall have charge of all appropriations to be made for the benefit or care of the insane of the state, and (by section 14) that "the board of trustees may take and hold, in trust for the hospital, any lands conveyed or devised, and any money or other personal property given or bequeathed, to be applied for any purpose connected with the institute."

This action was brought in the district court for Ramsey county, pursuant to a joint resolution of the statelegislature, approved March 11, 1873, (Laws 1873, p. 283,) against the defendants Brown and others as trustees of the hospital, and against the defendantC. K. Davis, as governor of the state, to establish the title of the plaintiff to a large quantity of swamp-lands, granted to the state by act of congress before mentioned, and which were claimed for the hospital under the legislation and proceedings stated in the complaint.^[*]

The case made by plaintiff in its complaint is in substance as follows:

On March 6, 1863, the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co. was and has ever since been a corporation, and was then authorized to construct and operate a railroad from Stillwater, by way of St. Paul and St. Anthony, to Breckenridge on the Sioux Wood river, and certain branches, including a branch from St. Paul to Winona, and to acquire hold and convey lands.By an act of the legislature approved on that day, entitled "An act granting lands to aid the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad Company in the construction of their branch railroad from Saint Paul to Winona,"(Sp. Laws 1863, c. 4,) it is enacted as follows:

"Section 1.That for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a branch railroad from St. Paul to Winona, along the valley of the Mississippi river, there is hereby granted to the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company all the swamp-lands belonging to this state, lying and being within the limits of seven miles on each side of the line of said branch road from St. Paul to Winona, as the same shall be located and constructed; and as soon as any twenty continuous miles of said branch road shall be located, and as often thereafter as any further twenty continuous miles thereof shall be located, the said lands within the limits aforesaid shall be withheld from market and sale; and as soon as any twenty continuous miles of said branch road shall be completed, and as soon and as often thereafter as any further twenty continuous miles thereof shall be completed, the said lands within said limits shall be certified and conveyed to the said company by the governor of the state.And if, when and as often as twenty continuous miles of said branch road shall have been completed with the cars running thereon, it shall be found that any portion of the said swamp-lands within the said seven miles have been sold or otherwise disposed of by the United States or this state, the amount shall be made up and supplied to said company out of the swamp-lands belonging to the state, to be selected by said company outside of said limits.And if, upon the completion of any twenty continuous miles of said road, as aforesaid, it shall be found that within the said seven miles of said line there shall not be an amount of swamp-lands on each side of said line, belonging to the state, equal to at least seven full sections per mile of said road so completed, then the said company shall have the right to and may select from the swamp-lands belonging to this state, outside of said sevenmile limits, other swamp-lands in an amount equal to such deficiency, and the said lands so selected by said company outside of said seven-mile limits shall be certified and conveyed to said company by the governor of the state.And the said lands shall not be subject to taxation until the same shall have been sold and conveyed by the said company: provided, that if the said company shall not within three years construct and equip for business, with the cars running thereon, at least twenty miles of said road, and the residue thereof within five years from the passage of this act, then and in that case all the lands hereby granted, appertaining to the unbuilt portion of the said branch road, shall be forfeited to the state."

By an act approved March 1, 1861, (Sp. Laws 1861, c. 1, § 18,) it was provided that the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad Company, on compliance with certain conditions, should be entitled to have and to own in fee all the swamplands for seven miles on either line of its road, and that if it should be found that within those limits there should not be an amount of swamp-lands belonging to the state equal to at least seven full sections per mile, then the company should have the right to select from the swamp-lands belonging to the state outside of those limits, and between the Mississippi river, Lake Superior and Rainy Lake, enough swamp-lands to make up the deficiency.

By an act approved March 12, 1861, (Laws 1861, c. 65,) all the swamp-lands then owned or which thereafter might be owned by or come into possession of the state within the then boundaries of the county of McLeod are donated to the agricultural college of the state.

By an act approved March 7, 1862, (Sp. Laws 1862, c. 56,) to aid the construction of a state road from Madelia in Watonwan county to the western boundary of the state, 10,000 acres of swamp-lands are appropriated, to be selected within six miles on either side of the road as located.

By an act approved February 16, 1865, (Sp. Laws 1865, c. 1,) for the purpose of aiding the Southern Minnesota Railroad Company in the construction of its railroad, all the swamp-lands in the odd-numbered sections in the Root river land-district, and also all the swamp-lands in the odd-numbered sections lying north of the Root river land-district, west of range 29, and south of the Minnesota river are set apart and granted to the railroad company.

By an act approved February 13, 1865, entitled "An act to appropriate swamp-lands to certain educational and charitable institutions therein named, and for the purpose of erecting a state prison,"(Laws 1865, c. 5,) it is enacted as follows:

"Section 1.That as soon as the title to the swamp-lands donated by congress to the state of Minnesota...