Hall v. Board of Com'rs of Bossier Levee Dist.

Citations

• 111 La. 913
• 35 So. 976
• 1904 La. LEXIS 575

Syllabus

<p>PUBLIC LANDS—GRANT OF SWAMP LANDS— SALE BY STATE — PETITORY ACTION — DEFENSES—ESTOPPEL—STREAMS—PRE-EMPTION RIGHTS.</p> <p>1. Where a subdivision of land was granted to the state of Louisiana under the acts of Congress of 1849 (Act March 2, 1849, c. 87, 9 Stat. 352) and 1850 (Act Sept. 28, 1850, c. 84, 9 Stat. 519), there can be no reason to doubt that the grant carried with it all the land in the subdivision, whether dry or overflowed, since those acts provide that “all subdivisions” shall be granted, “the greater part of which is” swamp land, subject to overflow, and that, “when the greater part of a subdivision is not of that character, the whole of it shall be excluded from the grant.”</p> <p>2. Under the swamp-land grant acts of Congress of 1849 (Act March 2, 1849, c. 87, 9 Stat. 352) and 1850 (Act Sept. 28, 1850, c. 84, 9 Stat. 519) the lands granted to the state were “subject to be disposed of by the Législatp-e,” and under the act of the General Assembly No. 247, p. 306, of 1855, shallow lakes so acquired, not navigable, could be sold only after their area had been ascertained by surveys recognized by the state.</p> <p>3. Where a defendant in a petitory action sets up as a muniment of title a government survey, from the plat of which it appears that a certain lake or stream was meandered at the water’s edge, he is in no position to show that such was not the case.</p> <p>4. The defenses to a petitory action that the land was acquired by accession as alluvion, or as relicted land, and that it was acquired as dry land within the boundaries of the original purchase, are conflicting, and cannot stand together.</p> <p>5. Red Shoot Lake (otherwise called Flat River), between the upper and lower ends, has been a mere slough in the midst of a body of land subject to overflow, and serving to carry the waters of the lake, sometimes in one direction and sometimes in another. Being part of a shallow lake, the land under which is susceptible of reclamation, it is not t