E. R. Lindsey v. Carl Moyle and Jane Doe Moyle, His Wife, and Marvin Hines

E. R. Lindsey, proceeding pro se, brought this action against Carl Moyle, Mrs. Moyle and Marvin Hines to quiet title to five unpatented lode mining claims, together with a quantity of mined and stockpiled ore and mining equipment stored on the claims. District court jurisdiction rests on diversity of citizenship. 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332 (1964). After a trial, judgment was entered for defendants and plaintiff appeals.

Lindsey relies for his title to the ore and mining equipment in question on a bill of sale obtained on September 17, 1928, from Silver Hill Mining Company. However, the trial court found that Silver Hill did not then own the ore and equipment, as it had been conveyed to one T. P. Harsh on October 25, 1924, on a sheriff’s deed following execution of foreclosure thereon.

Lindsey bases his interest in the five lode mineral claims in question on certain mineral locations, subject to government fee title. The trial court, however, found that Lindsey failed to establish any discovery of ore and failed to establish a valid location of any of these mining claims. The court further found that plaintiff was not in possession of the property claimed within five years prior to the…