Gorman Mining Co. v. Alexander

Citations

• 2 S.D. 557
• 51 N.W. 346
• 1892 S.D. LEXIS 20

Syllabus

<p>One of the locators of an unpatented mining claim duly and legally located by citizens of the United States in 1887 conveyed his interest in said claim, in 1888, to an alien, who in 1887 — prior to the relocation of such claim by the defendants — conveyed the same to the plaintiff, a corporation qualified to locate, hold, and purchase the mineral lands of the United States. Held, that such alien, under the laws of Dakota Territory, then in force, which provided that “any person, whether citizen or alien, may take, hold, and dispose of property; real or personal,” within said territory, could and did, as ag'ainst everybody but the holder of the paramount title, by such conveyance acquire and hold the title of such locator, acquired by him by such location, under the laws of the United States, and had the rig'ht to convey the same, as against a-11 persons except the holder of the paramount title. Held, further, that a conclusion of law by the trial court that such conveyence from said locator to such alien was in effect an abandonment of the claim, and that claim therefore became a part of the public domain of the United States, and was subject to relocation by any qualified person, was erroneous.</p> <p>(Syllabus by the Court.</p>