Thomas v. South Butte Mining Co.
| Decision Date | 02 February 1914 |
| Docket Number | 2269. |
| Parties | THOMAS v. SOUTH BUTTE MINING CO. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Thomas D. Thomas, of Oakland, Cal., in pro. per.
John A Shelton, of Butte, Mont., for appellee.
Before GILBERT, ROSS, and MORROW, Circuit Judges.
The appellee brought a suit against the appellant to quiet its title to certain placer claims in the state of Montana. The appellant answered and filed a cross-bill, alleging that within the boundaries of the patent claims he had located the Resurrection quartz lode mining claim; that the placer patents under which the appellee claimed excepted and reserved veins or lodes of quartz or rock in place bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, etc., which were known to exist within the lands described in the placer patents at the date of the applications therefor; that certain veins or lodes did exist at such dates, and were known to exist by the applicants; that one of such veins so known to exist extends through the Resurrection quartz lode mining claim, which was located by the appellant on December 1, 1909, and the appellant alleged that he had made discovery thereon, and had regularly thereafter performed the necessary annual work on said claim. The appellant prayed that the appellee's bill be dismissed, and that his title to the Resurrection claim be quieted. Upon the issues evidence was offered by the appellee showing its title to the lands described in the bill by virtue of placer patents issued at different dates, all of which were prior in time to the location of the Resurrection lode claim, and testimony was given that the Resurrection lode claim was within the boundaries of said lands.
The proof of the appellant consisted of a certified copy of the certificate of location of the Resurrection lode claim recorded on January 7, 1910, and an amended statement of the location thereof, recorded January 26, 1910; a certified copy of the location notice of the Morning Star lode claim, of date July 2, 1877; a certified copy of the location notice of the Green copper lode claim, of date January 1, 1891; a certified copy of the location notice of the Pay Streak lode mining claim, of date August 2, 1881; also a map purporting to show the location of these various lode claims, and showing that the Pay Streak lode claim covered a portion of the ground which was subsequently embraced within the Resurrection quartz lode mining claim; that the Green copper lode claim adjoined the end thereof, and that the Morning Star was distant therefrom. The other documentary evidence offered by the defendant was immaterial to the issues raised in the pleadings and to the question which is before us for decision. The appellant offered no evidence whatever other than the copies of the location notices of the three lode mining claims to prove that at the time when the grantors of the appellee made applications for the placer patents any veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place bearing valuable mineral deposits were known to exist.
The sole question presented for decision is the question of law whether upon the evidence the court below erred in decreeing to the appellee the relief which was prayed for and dismissing the appellant's cross-bill. The patents to the placer claims issued to ...
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CHAPTER 12 ORIGINAL TITLE AND CREATION OF MINERAL RIGHTS
...Ed.). [101] See note 65, supra. [102] See note 82, supra. [103] See note 65, supra. [104] Thomas v. South Butte Mining Company, Mont. 1914, 211 F. 105, 128 C.C.A. 33, cert. denied, 34 S.Ct. 999, 234 U.S. 754, 58 L.Ed. 1578; Chamberlain v. Montgomery, 1953, 261 P.2d, 1 Utah 2d 31. [105] See ......