Dilla

It is manifest that the defendant cannot sustain his equitable defense, so as to require the plaintiff to convey to him the legal title which was conveyed by the patent issued by the United States to the plaintiff, unless the defendant had the better right to pre-empt the land. In the contest between the parties in the Land Department, it was incumbent upon each party to prove the facts upon which he relied, as establishing his claim to the right of pre-emption. Defendant filed his declaratory statement October 3rd, 1873, alleging settlement October 22nd, 1862; and the plaintiff filed his declaratory statement December 26th, 1873, alleging settlement March 25th, 1865. It was proven that in March, 1865, the plaintiff was in the actual and personal occupation of the land, and so remained until May, 1868, when he was ejected therefrom by virtue of a writ of possession, issued upon a judgment rendered in an action brought by Bohall against Dilla in one of the District Courts of this State, and Bohall was put into possession of the land. In the contest between the plaintiff and defendant in the Land Department, it became necessary for the defendant to prove a continuous personal…