United States v. Portneuf-Marsh Valley Irr. Co.

[1] The United States brought an action against the defendant in error, an irrigation company, alleging that the latter is unlawfully occupying, for the purposes of a reservoir for irrigation, 246.13 acres of land within the Ft. Hall Indian reservation, claiming authority to do so under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1891, granting rights of way for canals and reservoirs through the public lands and reservations of the United States, and the approval of its map of location by the Secretary of the Interior, given on June 27, 1908, and alleging that t-he irrigation company has constructed a reservoir on said land and impounded therein water to be used in irrigating arid lands in Bannock county, Idaho. For said alleged unlawful occupation of the land, the plaintiff demanded damages in the sum of $2,461.30. A general demurrer to the complaint was sustained by the court below, and, the plaintiff declining to amend, judgment was entered for the defendant.

Section 18 of the Act of March 3, 1891, c. 561, 26 Stat. 1101 (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1570), provides;

The plaintiff contends that in the words used in section 18, “right of way through the public lands and reservations of the…