State v. Stockdale

• Decision Date: 21 October 1949
• Docket Number: 31056.
• Citation: 210 P.2d 686,34 Wn.2d 857
• Parties: STATE v. STOCKDALE et al.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

210 P.2d 686

34 Wn.2d 857

STATE v. STOCKDALE et al.

No. 31056.

Supreme Court of Washington

October 21, 1949

Department 1

The State sued Thomas M. Stockdale and another to condemn certain land.

From a judgment of the Superior Court of Kittitas County, J. A Whitfield, J., quieting plaintiff's title to the land defendants appealed.

The Supreme Court, Grady, J., affirmed the judgment, holding that the evidence established plaintiff's acquisition of title to the land by adverse possession.

Kern &amp Dano, Ellensburg, for appellants.

Smith Troy, Lyle L. Iverson, Olympia, for respondent.

GRADY Justice.

The question involved in this appeal is whether the state of Washington acquired a prescriptive title by adverse possession to a tract of land in Kittitas county approximating ten acres in area, being the part of the south half of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 19, township 17, north range 23, E. W. M., located at the summit of a ridge overlooking the Columbia river.

In 1931 Prof. George F. Beck, instructor at Central Washington College of Education, discovered the petrified trees later to be known as Gingko Forest. The state park committee acquired from Smithson Company, a corporation, an area of land for a state park. When the description of the land was inserted in the deed the grantor intended to convey and the grantee intended to acquire the tract of land in question, but it was not included in the description. We shall refer to this area as the ten-acre tract. No survey was made to determine the exact location of the boundary lines. It was assumed by all parties that the boundary line of the property acquired coincided approximately with the edge of the cliff, but a subsequent survey demonstrated that the legal subdivision line was a short distance from this point. The tract in dispute lies between the true subdivision line and the edge of the cliff. The deed from the Smithson Company was executed and delivered on September 12, 1935. It was contemplated that the park site would be turned over to the national park service as a national monument. A Civilian Conservation Corps camp had been located at Vantage and a trial or road was constructed from the public highway to the ten-acre tract which is referred to in the record as the hilltop. The national park service later abandoned making the park site a national monument and in 1937 the area became known as Gingko State Park.

Upon acquiring title the respondent went into possession of the land described in the deed and the ten-acre tract. During 1936 the respondent constructed a residence for a caretaker and in 1937 it constructed a museum. One corner of the museum projected across the line onto property described in the deed. The respondent also constructed a laboratory shop, garage, office and storage space and a glass-enclosed vista room overlooking the Columbia river. A heating plant was installed. A walk was constructed in front of the museum and a guard rail at the edge of the cliff. Later a water right was acquired from a spring on land belonging to Smithson Company and a pipeline was constructed to carry water to the hilltop. In addition to the buildings on the top of the bluff another caretaker's house and museum were constructed near the public highway, and the site became known as the Trailside Museum. In 1938 the park was opened to the public. Exhibits, consisting of petrified wood, Indian relics, etc., were placed in the museum on the hilltop.

About five years after the deed was executed an employee in the office of the state parks committee, when checking descriptions of state park properties for the purpose of compiling a plat book, found that the national park maps indicated that the boundary line of the ten-acre tract was described by metes and bounds and showed an irregular line around the edge of a bluff, while the deed on record with the commissioner of public lands conveyed only to the subdivision line, which was a straight line westerly about two hundred feet from the line indicated by the national park map. The discrepancy was called to the attention of the park committee. No action was taken by the respondent with reference to this discovery. In May, 1941, Smithson Company conveyed a large tract of land to appellants which included the legal subdivision in which the ten-acre tract was located. The appellants did not know the location of the corners of the various legal subdivisions purchased and assumed that the ten-acre tract was the property of respondent. The appellants had resided at nearby Vantage for a long time. A few days after acquiring their property from Smithson Company, appellants sold and conveyed it to John W. Rumsey. When Rumsey acquired title he caused a survey to be made and discovered that his deed included the ten-acre tract. There were some negotiations had between Mr. Rumsey and respondent with reference to making some adjustment of title, but their full extent is not disclosed by the record. The record does not indicate that the respondent gave any official recognition of any claim which may have been made by Rumsey, but continued to occupy the ten-acre tract and treat it as a part of the park. The respondent continued to make improvements and had electrical service installed in 1945. About May 1, 1947 appellants purchased from Rumsey record title to land on the hilltop, including the ten-acre tract. During the war years public visits to the park materially diminished. Caretakers were employed intermittently and some of the buildings depreciated and became out of repair. A feeling arose among some state officials and employees that...