Quigley v. Gillett

Citations

• 101 Cal. 462
• 35 P. 1040
• 1894 Cal. LEXIS 1059

Syllabus

<p>Mining Claims—Determination of Adverse Claim—Proceedings in Land Office—Evidence—Harmless Ruling.—In an action brought to determine the adverse claims of the parties to the right of possession of mineral land, the court has nothing to do with the proceedings in the land office, and no power to determine as to their regularity or irregularity, sufficiency or insufficiency; and the overruling of an objection to the insufficiency of a protest filed by the plaintiffs in the land office, and its admission in evidence, cannot be a prejudicial error.</p> <p>Id.—Offer of Evidence—Reservoir Site—Parties.—An offer of the de- ■ fendants to prove that the lands in controversy were located as a reservoir site by a corporation not a party to the action, and under which neither of the parties claim any interest, is properly rejected as irrelevant and immaterial.</p> <p>Id.—Rights of Persons Not Parties—Jurisdiction. —The court has no power to determine as to the rights of reservoir claimants not before the court.</p> <p>Id.—Failure to Do Annual Work—Forfeiture—Relocation—Burden of Proof.—One who claims under a relocation for failure to do annual work by the locators of a prior valid location has the burden of establishing the forfeiture upon clear and convincing proof of the failure of the former owners to have the work performed or improvements made to the amount required by law.</p> <p>Id.—Insufficiency of Evidence—Bill of Exceptions—Presumption Upon Appeal.—Where the bill of exceptions merely states that no competent evidence was offered by the defendants tending to show that any assessment work required by the act of Congress or the local laws of the mining district had been performed on their mining claim for two years after its location, or at any time prior to the location of plaintiff’s claim, and the record is silent as to whether any evidence was offered by the plaintiffs showing that no work was done on the claim, it must be presumed upon appeal that no such evidence