Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-06-19
Important Legal Questions In.
volved in Defense OF Title
Against Railroad
LAND is IN HARRISON COUNTY
Records Disclosed II to Be Government
Land and Subject to Homestead En-
try, So Quinlan Filed Thereon, and
Receiving Papers, Made Required
improvements.
Special to T,mes-Republican.
improvements.

Cochran left for Washington, ID. c.
yesterday, to defend the title to the
homestead of William Quinlan agains,
the C. g. n. w. railroad corporation
before the interior department. The
Quinlan case has attracted much at
tention in western Iowa, because OF
the legal questions and other note
worthy features involved.
Among the legal questions raised IN
this case are: l. May the claim of adj
verse possession be made and held by
railroad corporation against an &C
tual homesteader on government land
where adverse possession Is based upon
the right of-way or side track cross
ing the land in controversy
2. May title be perfected to gov
eminent land and held by railroad
corporation against the rights Of a
homesteader, where a railroad corpor-
alton secures It's title by fraud, or thru
parties who neither owned the land
nor had any right to sell 1t for 9TH
ers.
3. May railroad corporation be
estopped from claiming or designating
land as other than government land,
where the corporation has received
the land in railroad grants as govern
ment land, and then reconveyed 1t
back to the United States as govern
ment land.
The land in controversy is situated
in the western part OF Harrison coun-
ty, partly between the juncture of the
railroads formerly known as the Free
mont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley and
the Sioux City and Pacific railroads.
Of which W. B. Allison, A. w. Hub
bard, Charles A. Lombard. James F..
Wilson, John l. Blair and others are
alleged incorporators, receiving an al
legged grant Of 100 sections Of land per
mile, and subsidy bonds from the gov
eminent in colossal amounts.
AS the records Of Harrison county,
also the records of the United States
land office at Des Moines, also the
records of the general land Office at
Washington, upon investigation, dis
closed this land to be government land,
and subject to homestead entry, Mr..
Quinlan filed thereon, and received his
papers from the United States land
office at Des Moines, and then made
the required improvements, and moved
upon the land in question.
The Chicago & Northwestern rail-
road company, thru its attorneys, COM
proceedings to dispossess Mr..
Quinlan in the district court of Har-
rison county, but discovered that the
court was without Jurisdiction in
homestead entry cases. They then be-
gan proceedings before the United
States land office at Des Moines. set
ting up: 1. Adverse possession be-
cause the right-of-way or side track
crossed the land occupied by Mr. Quin-
Ian. 2. That they had purchased this
land of Harrison county. 8. That the
land in controversy was not govern
ment land, but accretion to land held
by the corporation.
Tn answer to the claims Of the rail-
road corporation. Mr.. Quinlan, thru
his attorney, s. III. Cochran. denied the
right Of a railroad corporation to
claim adverse possession on govern
ment land; also the right OF Harrison
to sell land to which 1t never
possessed title; and, also, the right OF
the corporation to claim this land un-
der the law of accretion. for the reason
that the government surveys embrace
Ing It had been sustained by the SUI
preme court of Iowa, and that the
corporation had recognized
this land as government land by the
terms Of the grant in which the rail-
road corporation had received it; also
by the terms and descriptions used by
the railroad corporation in reconwey-
Ing this land back to the United