SPARKS & Another v. PIERCE & Others

Citations

• 115 U.S. 408
• 6 S. Ct. 102
• 29 L. Ed. 428
• 1885 U.S. LEXIS 1851

Syllabus

<p>Mere occupancy o‘f the public lands and making improvements thereon give no vested right therein as against the United States or any purchaser from them.</p> <p>To entitle a party to relief in equity against a patent of the government he must show a better right to the land than the patentee, such as, in law should have been respected by the officers of the Land Department, and being respected would have given him the patent. It is not sufficient to - show that the patentee ought not to have received the patent.</p> <p>A person who makes improvements upon public land, knowing that he has no title, and that the land is open to exploration and sale for its minerals, and makes no effort to secure the title to it as such, under the laws of Congress, or a .right of possession under the local customs and rules of miners, has no claim to compensation for his improvements as an adverse holder in good faith, when such sale is made to another and the title is passed to him by a patent of the United States.</p>