Source: https://www.legalcrystal.com/case/90457/st-paul-minneapolis-manitoba-ry-co-vs-donohue
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 00:23:43+00:00

Document:
Appellant St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Ry. Co.
A homesteader who initiates a right to either surveyed or unsurveyed land and complies with the legal requirements may, when he enters the land, embrace in his claim land in contiguous quarter-sections if he does not exceed the quantity allowed by law and provided that his improvements are upon some portion of the tract, and that he does such acts as put the public upon notice as to the extent of his claim. Ferguson v. McLaughlin, 96 U. S. 174 , distinguished.
being properly filed by the homesteader, the land becomes open to settlement, and the railway company is not entitled to the land under a selection filed prior to such relinquishment.
The facts arc stated in the opinion.
settled upon unsurveyed public land of the United States situated in the Duluth Land District, Minnesota. The land was within the territory in which plaintiff in error, hereafter called the railway company, was entitled to make indemnity selections. This right, however, was limited to land as to which, at the time, "no right or claim had attached or been initiated" in favor of another. Act of August 5, 1892, 27 Stat. 390, c. 382. In the Land Office of the district aforesaid, two years and eight months after the settlement by Hickey -- that is, in December, 1895 -- the railway company made indemnity selections embracing not only the land upon which Hickey had built his residence, but all the unsurveyed land contiguous thereto which under any contingency could have been acquired by Hickey in virtue of his settlement. Seven months after -- on July 22, 1896 -- the official plat or survey of the township in which the lands were situated was filed. On that day, Hickey made application to enter the tract under the homestead laws. This application embraced five contiguous lots, located, however, in different quarter-sections -- viz., one lot (No. 12) in § 3, and four lots (Nos. 9, 10, 14, and 15) in § 4. The whole five lots contained in all about 160 acres, because lots 14 and 15 were fractional. The improvements made by Hickey were on lot 15.
land claimed in the application to enter, and therefore, under the terms of its grant, the railway company was precluded from making a selection of the lands in dispute. In reaching this conclusion, the Secretary found as a fact that, in making his homestead settlement, Hickey had plainly manifested his intention to embrace within his homestead the land which he subsequently sought to enter in such manner as to cause it to be well known to all in the community, as early as 1893, the year of the settlement, what were the boundaries of the tract for which he intended to obtain a patent. 32 L.D. 8. In consequence of this final decision, the mother of Hickey made a homestead entry for the five lots. Subsequently, in the Cass Lake Land District, Minnesota, to which the land had been transferred, the mother of Hickey filed in the local Land Office a relinquishment of her claim to the entire tract. Simultaneously, Donohue, the defendant in error, filed an application to enter the land under the Timber and Stone Act, and his claim was allowed. The railway company, however, contested as to the lots other than 14 and 15 in section 4 on the ground that the effect of the relinquishment by the heir of Hickey was to cause the selections which had formerly been rejected to become operative as against the entry of Donohue as to the land outside of the quarter-section on which the improvements of Hickey had been constructed. The contest thus created was finally decided by the Secretary of the Interior in favor of the railway company, and a patent issued to it for the lots in dispute. This proceeding was then commenced in the courts of Minnesota by Donohue to hold the railway company liable as his trustee, upon the ground of error in law committed by the Secretary of the Interior in refusing to sustain his entry. The court below decided in favor of Donohue. 101 Minn. 239. Upon this writ of error, the correctness of its action is the question for decision.
wrong as a matter of law because Hickey, by his settlement, had power to initiate a claim to land only in the fractional quarter-section within which his improvements had been placed, and therefore that all the other lands outside of such quarter-section, although embraced in the application for entry, were subject to selection by the railway company because unappropriated public land of the United States against which no claim had been initiated. Second. Because, even if the decision of the Land Department in favor of the Hickey application was not erroneous as a matter of law, the court below erred in not giving effect to the ruling of the Department in favor of the railroad company and against the Donohue entry.
To dispose of the first contention requires us to take into view the legislation concerning the right to acquire public lands by preemptors and homesteaders.
"by legal subdivisions, any number of acres, not exceeding one hundred and sixty, or a quarter-section of land, to include the residence of such claimant, upon paying to the United States the minimum price of such land. . . ."
file his declaratory statement with the register of the proper district. Act Sept. 4, 1841, c. 16, § 16, 5 Stat. 457, Rev.Stat. § 2264. Subsequently, where the land settled upon had not been proclaimed for sale, the settler was allowed three months in which to file his claim. Act March 3, 1843, c. 86, § 5, 5 Stat. 620, Rev.Stat. 2265.
It was not, however, until 1862, that preemptions were allowed, under proper restrictions, on the unsurveyed public lands generally. Act of June 2, 1862. 12 Stat. 418. By § 7 of that act, the settler on unsurveyed lands was not required to make his declaratory statement until three months from the date of the receipt at the district Land Office of the approved plat of the township embracing his preemption settlement.
lying contiguous to each other without reference to the quarter-section lines, or he has the right to enter a quarter-section as such, in which case he can take the amount of land contained therein as shown by the official survey. In entering a 'quarter-section,' he cannot, of course, depart from the ascertained lines, but must take 160 acres or less, as the case may be."
"In the case under consideration, Shaw claims by legal subdivision, but not according to the lines of a quarter-section. Part of the land is in one township, in sec. 2, and part in another township, in sec. 35. He should be allowed to enter any number of the legal subdivisions contiguous to each other and including his dwelling so that the whole shall not in amount exceed 160 acres, but he cannot, under the act, take more than that amount, because the land claimed does not constitute what is legally known as a 'quarter-section.'"
On May 15, 1874, the right of a qualified preemptor to locate a preemption claim upon land lying in two adjoining townships was expressly recognized in Preemption Claim of William McHenry, Copp, Land Laws, p. 295. And these principles, as will hereafter be seen, governed equally as to settlements on unsurveyed as on surveyed land.
The homestead law was enacted on May 20, 1862. 12 Stat. 392, c. 75. By that act, differing from the preemption law, the rights of the settler only attached to the land from the date of the entry in the proper Land Office. Maddox v. Burnham, 156 U. S. 544 , 156 U. S. 546 . The text of that act, afterwards embodied in Rev.Stat. §§ 2289 et seq., makes it obvious that it was contemplated that, as under the settled rule applied in the enforcement of the preemption laws, the homesteader was not to be confined to a particular regular quarter-section tract in order that he might receive 160 acres, but was authorized to make up the allotted quantity by joining contiguous legal subdivisions.
homestead laws, a quantity of land less than one hundred sixty acres, was authorized "to enter so much land as, when added to the quantity previously entered, should not exceed one hundred sixty acres."
"SEC. 3. That any settler who has settled, or who shall hereafter settle, on any of the public lands of the United States, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, with the intention of claiming the same under the homestead laws, shall be allowed the same time to file his homestead application and perfect his original entry in the United States Land Office as is now allowed to settlers under the preemption laws to put their claims on record, and his right shall relate back to the date of settlement the same as if the settled under the preemption laws."
See Maddox v. Burnham, supra.
It cannot be doubted that, at the inception, the Land Office considered that, under the homestead law, a settler was entitled to take his 160 acres not alone from a regular quarter-section, but to make up, as was the case under the preemption law, the quantity allowed by law, by taking adjoining and contiguous legal subdivisions, and that such has continued to be the rule by which the statute has been enforced to this time, both as respects settlements upon unsurveyed as well as surveyed lands. See circular October 30, 1862 (2 Lester, p. 248); departmental instructions as to entries on public lands, contained in bound volumes published in 1899 and 1904; circular August 4, 1906, 35 L.D. pp. 187 to 200.
Both under the preemption law and under the homestead law, after the act of 1880, the rights of the settler were initiated by settlement. In general terms, it may be said that the preemption laws (Rev.Stat. §§ 2257-2288), as a condition to an entry of public lands, merely required that the appropriation should have been for the exclusive use of the settler, that he should erect a dwelling house on the land, reside upon the tract, and improve the same. By the homestead law, residence upon and cultivation of the land was required. Under neither law was there a specific requirement as to when the improvement of the land should be commenced or as to the nature and extent of such improvement, nor was there any requirement that the land selected should be enclosed.
the classes, it is undoubted that the administrative rule has been, as to surveyed and unsurveyed lands, that the notice effected solely by improvements upon the land is confined to land within the particular quarter-section on which the improvements are situated. 5 L.D. 141. And this ruling was predicated upon the assumed import of the decision in Quinby v. Conlan, 104 U. S. 420 .
In the first class of cases, however -- that is, in contests between settlers where the claim of the first settler embraced not only land within the legal subdivision on which the improvements had been placed, but contiguous land lying in another quarter-section, the ruling has ever been that any conduct of the first settler adequate to convey actual or constructive notice to a subsequent settler that the claim had been initiated not only to the land upon which the improvements were situated, but as to contiguous land, even though in another quarter-section, sufficed to preserve the rights of the first settler. The scope of the rulings on this subject is illustrated by a decision of the Secretary of the Interior made in 1893, in Sweet v. Doyle, 17 L.D.197. In that case, the Secretary maintained the homestead right of Sweet to land lying in different sections. In doing so, reviewing previous decisions, attention was called to the fact that it had been ruled that the original settler might defeat an attempted settlement by another before the time when record notice was required, in any of the following modes: 1, as to a technical quarter-section, by the settlement upon and placing of improvements thereon; 2, as to all of a tract, although lying in different quarter-sections, by improvements on each subdivision of the land outside of the quarter-section on which he had settled; 3, by actual notice to an intruder of the extent of the settlement claim. Two cases decided in 1887 (Brown v. Central Pacific R. Co. 6 L.D. 151, and Union Pacific R. Co. v. Simmons, 6 L.D. 172) illustrate the recognition by the Land Department of a right in a qualified preemptor to settle upon unsurveyed land, although lying in more than one quarter-section.
As to the second aspect -- that is, the nature and character of the acts of the settler essential to initiate and preserve a claim to land as against the government -- the rulings of the Land Department have been liberal towards the settler, and his good faith and honest purpose to comply with the demands of the statute have primarily been considered, thus carrying out the injunction of this Court in Tarpey v. Madsen, 178 U. S. 220 , and cases there cited, to the effect that regard should be had, in passing on the rights of settlers, to the fact that "the law deals tenderly with one who, in good faith, goes upon the public lands with the view of making a home thereon." The general course of the Land Department on the subject is illustrated by two decisions -- Findley v. Ford, 11 L.D. 173, and Holman v. Hickerson, 17 L.D. 200.
As a result of this review of the legislation concerning preemptions and homesteads, and of the settled interpretation continuously given to the same, we think there is no merit in the proposition that a homesteader who initiates a right as to either surveyed or unsurveyed land, and complies with the legal regulations, may not, when he enters the land, embrace in his claim land in contiguous quarter-sections if he does not exceed the quantity allowed by law and provided that his improvements are upon some portion of the tract and that he does such acts as put the public upon notice of the extent of his claim.
of the decision in the cited case, or, in any event, assumes that expressions found in the opinion must be now held to govern a question not arising on the record in that case.
required by the statute been made. Not only the issues in the case make this clear, but this also results from the statement of the court that its conclusion was in accord with, and was intended to uphold and apply, the rulings of the Land Department from the beginning. This must follow because, if the language of the opinion relied upon in the argument were to be given the meaning now attributed to it, it would result that the opinion, instead of giving sanction to and maintaining the rulings of the Land Department, would have overthrown the entire administrative construction of the act enforced from the beginning. For whilst it is true, as has been shown, that the Land Department had always held that there must be compliance with the statutory requirements as to a dwelling and improvements on the tract settled upon and claimed, those rulings went pari passu with the consistent and settled rule by which a settler was allowed to take the land which he claimed from different quarter-sections if he had given adequate notice of the extent of his claim both within and without the legal subdivision in which his improvements were situated. And this view of the true meaning of the decision in the Ferguson case, irrespective of general expressions found in the opinion, is fortified by the fact that, since that case was decided, in not one of the rulings of the Land Department has the case been referred to as changing the settled rule then prevailing, and which has been continued without interruption. Indeed, when the settled construction of the Land department is taken into view, and the unbroken application of that rule by it is borne in mind, the conclusion necessarily follows that Congress, in enacting the act of 1880, clearly must have had in mind the settled rule of the Land Department which the Ferguson case declared the court affirmed.
Ferguson v. McLaughlin justifies the assumption now based upon them, such assumption would cause the decision in that case, if applied to the issue here presented, to be destructive of the rights of settlers to initiate claims, both as to surveyed and unsurveyed land, prior to the time of making formal application to enter the land. This is said because it is apparent that the right given by the statute would be destroyed if it be that a homesteader who settles upon surveyed land, and locates his residence in an eligible situation upon a quarter-quarter-section, relying upon fertile land in other quarter-sections to enable him to make his settlement fruitful, can, after having given public manifestation of his intention as to the boundaries of his claim, have all the land, except only the quarter-quarter-section on which he resides, taken away from him by someone else before the time arrives when, by law, the homesteader is required to make application to enter. And the same thing is more cogently true of unsurveyed land. No more apt illustration of the unjust result referred to could be given than is disclosed by this very case, for, as we have said, the claim of Hickey embraced, among other land, two lots forming a fractional quarter-section. This was occasioned by the existence of a body of water which controlled the survey and caused the fractional quarter-section consisting solely of the two lots referred to. It was upon this quarter-section, bordering upon the water, that Hickey erected his dwelling. It is apparent that the right given by statute would be unavailing if it were to be held that Hickey had not the legal power to initiate any claim to the contiguous land, thus confining him to the fractional lots bounded by the water, in effect cutting off the only land which could possibly have made the settlement beneficial, although immediately on such settlement, as found by the Land Department, Hickey had manifested to the whole community his purpose to claim the land which he afterwards applied to enter, in order to make up his 160 acres.
enter the land as a homestead, we are brought to consider the second proposition -- that is, whether the Department was right in rejecting the timber entry of Donohue and awarding the land to the railroad company. When that question is considered in its ultimate aspect, it will be apparent not only that it is related to the question of the validity of the settlement of Hickey, but it necessarily follows that the validity of that settlement in effect demonstrates the error of law committed by the Department in its ruling as to the Donohue entry.
"This releases from suspension the selection by the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Company under Act of August 5, 1892, of lot 12, sec. 3, and lots 9 and 10, sec. 4 -- lots 14 and 15 not appearing to be within the company's original selection."
"You will inform Mrs. Hickey of the above action, and also advise the company thereof, and that thirty days' preference right will be allowed it in which to perfect its selection of said lot 12, sec. 3, and lots 9 and 10, sec. 4, in accordance with its Duluth list 7 (supplemental to list 5) filed July 22, 1896."
"This entry should not have been allowed; the contest for this land was between the railway company and the heirs of Jerry Hickey; but before the final action on the case, and the rejection of the company's application to select, the claim of the heirs of Hickey was relinquished and their homestead cancelled, which left the land subject to the application of the company."
"You will therefore notify the company in accordance with instructions of February 18, allowing it thirty days from notice in which to perfect its selection."
"The entry of Donohue will be held suspended, subject to the action of the company, and should it perfect the selection, the entry will be held for cancellation."
The railway company perfected its selection of the lands in controversy, and the "entry of Donohue was held for cancellation, subject to appeal." Donohue appealed, but, in an opinion dated December 16, 1904, the action of the Commissioner was approved, and this decision was reaffirmed in an opinion dated March 17, 1905, ruling adversely upon a motion to review. The selection made by the railway company was approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and a patent was issued for the land.
The Secretary of the Interior, in ruling upon the effect of the relinquishment of Mrs. Hickey and in passing upon the claim of Donohue, proceeded upon the hypothesis that the controversy presented by the appeal of Donohue was really a prolongation or extension of the original contest, and that the relinquishment of Mrs. Hickey constituted an abandonment of the homestead application, and, being made during the contest, conclusively established that the settlement of Hickey was not made in "good faith," and that such relinquishment operated to make the settlement of Hickey inefficacious to initiate a claim to the land, thereby validating the selection made by the railway company.
contest, and disregarded the previous and final ruling of the Secretary, made in February, 1903, which maintained the validity of the settlement of Hickey, and decided that, by such settlement, he had validly initiated a claim to the land. When this is borne in mind, it is clear that the ruling rejecting the Donohue claim and maintaining the selection of the railway company was erroneous as a matter of law, since, by the terms of the Act of August 5, 1892, 27 Stat. 390, c. 382, the railway company was confined in its selection of indemnity lands to lands nonmineral, and not reserved, "and to which no adverse right or claim shall have attached or have been initiated at the time of the making of such selection. . . ." When the selection and supplementary selection of the railway company was made, the land was segregated from the public domain, and was not subject to entry by the railroad company. Hastings & Dakota Ry. Co. v. Whitney, 132 U. S. 357 ; Whitney v. Taylor, 158 U. S. 85 ; Oregon & California R. Co. v. United States, 190 U. S. 186 .
". . . when a preemption, homestead, or timber culture claimant shall file a written relinquishment of his claim in the local land office, the land covered by such claim shall be held as open to settlement and entry without further action on the part of the Commissioner of the General Land Office."
THE CHIEF JUSTICE, MR. JUSTICE BREWER, and MR. JUSTICE MOODY dissent.

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