Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1894-06-07
THE MINERAL LAND CASE.
The Northern Pacific Gets Left and the Peo
pie Win, as They Should.

The Barden case was on Saturday
decided 10y the supreme court of the
United States, the decision being
against the Northern Pacific.
The title OF the case just decided by
the supreme conrt was the Northern
Pacific railroad VS.. Richard II. Bar
den ct al. The ease involved Il ques-
tion of the greatest Importance to the
states and territories embracing
mineral lands. May 30, 1SSS, the
and located several veins OF mineral
he airing ore in the vicinity of Broad
water hotel and natat orium i'm Lewis
and Clarke county and commenced
mining operations upon the same
sep. -, 800, the plaintiff commenced
it's action of ejrctment against de-
PENDANTS, alleging that it's grant
general and definite location of its
road, and the completion thereof,
were all prior IN time to the discovery
and location to said mineral claims
by the defendants.
The case was tried before the Hon.
| Lorenzo Sawyer, United States circuit
Jndge, and the Hon. Hiram Knowles,
, United States district Judge for the
district ot Montana, and 10y IA divided
court. Judge Sawyer being in favor
OF the plaintiff and Judge Knowles in
| favor of the defendants, Judgment was
rendered for the railroad company
and against the mineral claimants.
Under the law organizing the court OF
| appeals there was n saving clause as
to cases then pending which enabled
the case to go by writ OF error directly
to the supreme court OF the United
| States for review.
! Hon. Martin Maginnis, then being
mineral land commissioner for the
state OF Montana, seeing an oppor-
tunity to have this important ques-
tion forever settled by the highest ju-
dicial tribunal of the United States,
employed Toole 4 Wallace on behalf
of the state TO prepare record and
carry the case to the supremecourt OF
the United States for review. Upon
arrangement made with Hon. w. f.
Cullen, as attorney for the railroad.
and the attorneys for the state, the
pleadings were so amended as to pre-
sent fairly the question whether n dis
covery of valuable mines made after
the grant, location OF the general and
definite route OF plaintiffs railroad,
and the completion oil the same, gave
the locator a superior right to the
plaintiffs land under its grant.
The claim upon the one hand was
that all lands upon odd sections with
in forty miles upon each side of the
line OF railroad not known to be valu
able for minerals ut the time OF the
definite location OF the line OF the road
on the 9th day OF July, 1882, wer,
granted to the railroad. Upon tn,
other hand it was claimed that al
valuable mineral lands were excluded
from the grants whether known al
! Hsti'i tsttc " pc Eieii anu bh1'
all discoveries and locations mad,
prior TO the granting OF a patent tS
the railroad were valid under tn,
mineral lands laws OF the United
States. Elaborate briefs we're pre-
pared by Toole & Wallace and for
warded to Attorney General Miller
who, with his successor, consldere,
, the questions involved OF such vita
| interest to the mining states and ter
: ritories, as to require the assistanc
I OF the government attorneys In thel
E behalf.
The case was argued and submitte'
over n month ago and the highest trih
. unal in the land handed down al
. opinion sustaing the position @
I Judge Knowles and reversing the de
cision OF Judge Sawyer. Hence one @
e the most important questions affect
+ ing the mining intereste of this stat
and other states and territories tha
: could possibly arise, has been foreve
set at rest in a suit prosecuted at tn
instance of Montana, to whose enter