Smith v. Union Oil Co. of Cal.

In this action the plaintiff and defendant make adverse claims to a certain parcel of land, each asserting a right of possession thereto as an oil land mineral location, under the acts of Congress provided for the disposition of the mineral lands belonging to the United States. The parcel is in the shape of a parallelogram, one mile from north to south and one-fourth of a mile from east to west, and contains one hundred and sixty acres. The plaintiff in his location calls it the “Schley” claim; the defendant located it as the “Rawley” claim. The court below gave judgment for plaintiff. The defendant appeals from said judgment and also from an order denying its motion for a new trial.

The plaintiff and seven other qualified persons posted the location notice, under which he claims, on the ground on February 5, 1910, the same being then unoccupied, and on the same day marked the boundaries by sufficient monuments. The location notice, which named the ground the “Schley” claim, was duly recorded in the county recorder’s office and thereafter on March 8, 1910, the said seven other persons conveyed to Smith their interest in said land. Immediately upon marking the ground the locators…