Northern Pacific Railroad v. Colburn

Citations

• 164 U.S. 383
• 17 S. Ct. 98
• 41 L. Ed. 479
• 1896 U.S. LEXIS 1874

Syllabus

<p>The Supreme Court of the State of Montana having decided adversely to the plaintiff in error a claim of title to land under an act of Congress, a Federal question was thereby raised.</p> <p>No preemption or homestead claim attaches to a tract of public land until an entry in the local land office; and the ruling by the state court that occupation and cultivation by the claimant created a claim exempting the occupied land from passing to the railroad company under its land grant, is a decision on a matter of law open to review in this court.</p> <p>The facts found below were not of themselves sufficient to disturb the title of the railroad company under the grant from Congress.</p>