Tonopah Fraction Min. Co. v. Douglass

Citations

• 123 F. 936
• 1903 U.S. App. LEXIS 4958

Syllabus

<p>L Equity Pleading—Bill—Statement of Places of Abode of Parties.</p> <p>An allegation in a bill filed by a corporation that defendants are citizens and residents of the state in which the suit is brought, and nonresidents of another state, “where your orator resides,” is a sufficient statement of the places of abode of the parties to satisfy the requirements of equity rule 20.</p> <p>2. Public Lauds—Suit by Adverse Claimant—Pleading. '</p> <p>A suit brought under Rev. St. § 2326, and the amendments thereto (2 Comp. St. 1901, p. 1431), in support of an adverse claim to mining ground filed in the land office, is a statutory proceeding in aid of the Land Department, and a continuation of the proceedings instituted in the land office. It may be in form a suit in equity or an action at law, as may be appropriate in the particular case; but, whatever its form, the pleadings are to be construed with reference to its purpose, which is to determine the applicant’s right to a patent for the land in dispute, rather than by the strict rules of pleading. The statute not having prescribed the form of action or the requisites of the pleadings, it is competent for a state to legislate on the subject for the government of its own courts, and, while such legislation is not binding on a federal court in an equity suit, it may properly be followed by the court in determining the sufficiency of the pleadings. Following the statute of Nevada on .the subject, as construed by the state courts, a bill by an adverse claimant in possession, in the nature of a bill to quiet title, which alleges in general terms that the land is a part of a mining claim of which plaintiff is the owner and in possession, and that it is claimed by defendant as a part of an overlapping claim subsequently located, is sufficient, without setting out the probative facts in support of plaintiff’s title.</p>