Barnes

The history of these actions may be gathered from the statement in Barnes et al. v. Southern Pacific Co., 300 F. 481 . In that action the Southern Pacific Company sought to recover from the defendants exclusive possession of certain parcels of land described as part of the railroad right of way of 200 feet in width, granted' by Act of Congress approved March 3, 1871 ( 16 Stat. 573 ). Barnes and wife pleaded abandonment prior to the time of making a homestead entry on the so-called Bames land, abandonment subsequent to filing a homestead declaration and before issuance of patent, and subsequent to the issuance of the patent. We held that it was error for the District Court to grant the motion of the railroad company for judgment on the pleadings, and reversed the judgment. Our ruling was based upon the plea of defendants denying that the Southern Pacific Company owned or was entitled to possession of any right of way, or that it acquired the right of way by act of Congress referred to in the complaint, or that the railroad company was entitled to the exclusive, or any, possession of the whole or any part of the land described in the complaint, and that the plaintiff railroad…