Blackburn v. Portland Gold Mining Co.

Citations

• 175 U.S. 571
• 20 S. Ct. 222
• 44 L. Ed. 276
• 1900 U.S. LEXIS 1707

Syllabus

<p>The provision in Rev. Stat. § 2326 for the trial of adverse claims to a mining patent “ by a court of competent jurisdiction,” does not relate to any particular court, state or Federal; but it was the intention of Congress in this legislation to leave open to suitors all courts competent to determine the question of the right of possession.</p> <p>A controversy between rival claimants under that and the previous section can be properly determined by a state court, if the usual conditions of Federal jurisdiction do not exist, and the judgment of the Supreme Court of a State in such case cannot be reviewed by this court, simply because the parties were claiming rights under a Federal statute.</p> <p>Tlie court does not undertake to say that no case can arise under this legislation, which turns upon a disputed construction, and therefore presents a question essentially Federal in its nature.</p>