Smith v. Thomas
Smith v. Thomas
Opinion of the Court
In Smith v. Miller, 305 Iowa, 688, the plaintiff claimed the lands, of which that now in controversy is a part, as accretion to lots lying between the meander line of the Missouri river as located by the Davis survey in 1858 and that of the survey of 1851. The intervenor claimed them as accretion to his land bounded by the meander line of the original survey of 1851. Each prayed that title be quieted in him. The tracts occupied by the respective defendants had not then been surveyed, and they asked no affirmative relief. Later the several tracts seem to have been surveyed, and an accurate plat prepared and made a part of the decree finally entered. One of these was then occupied by Golden, who conveyed it to the defendant Elizabeth Thomas. Controversies as to other tracts have been adjusted since this appeal was taken. In compensation for services as attorneys in Smith v. Miller, supra, Golden conveyed to his attorneys, S. II. Cochran and Jesse T. Davis, all his right to and interest
The decree in Smith v. Miller, though introduced in evidence, is not set out in the abstract, and probably wre should accept the assertion of plaintiffs, not denied, that such decree especially found all the lands occupied by defendants therein to be situated in Nebraska, though the issues therein would seem merely to involve the claims of the intervener and plaintiffs to land beyond the meander .of the Davis survey, and the appropriate entry to be no more than a dismissal of the petitions. Conceding, however, that the court went further and located the tracts, and then definitely fixed their boundaries, though beyond its jurisdiction, we do not see how this aids plaintiffs in their contention that they are entitled to all land up to
In the first place, plaintiff’s deed cabled for the east thirty-three and one-third acres of the land occupied by Golden, as shown on the plat in Smith v. Miller, and that is precisely what the decree of the district court awarded them. Their deed did not describe the land as in Iowa or Nebraska, but merely as .being west of the meander line of the Navis survey, and necessarily was in or beyond the abandoned river bed. The entire tract was pointed out and definitely traced on this plat, regardless of the state in which located, and this tract is definitely identified as the one now actually occupied by Thomas. The land is the same notwithstanding .the alleged divergent views of the different courts with respect to state
In the first division of their petition, plaintiffs described the thirty-three and one-third acres covered by the deed as “cut-off land” noted in the plat heretofore mentioned, and “immediately east of the middle thread of the abandoned river bed. ” In the second division, the land is described by metes and bounds so as to include everything between the middle thread of the said abandoned bed and the Davis meander line. The defendant’s tract, with others, is alleged to be west of it. All of it is mentioned as though made by avulsion, as decided in Smith v. Miller. The findings of that case are treated throughout as the basis of their claim. There is no allegation that the land was added to plaintiffs’ lots by accretion or reliction, and such an inference is precluded by the wording of the pleading. If so, then from whence did plaintiffs derive the title to any land in the abandoned river bed save under the deed from Golden? If the land, was that of the state, as seems likely from Holman v. Hodges, 112 Iowa, 714, and East Omaha Land Co. v. Hansen, 117 Iowa, 96, or swamp land, as alleged in the petition, title was not shown to have passed to plaintiffs. See Ogden v. Buckley, 116 Iowa, 852; Carr v. Moore, 119 Iowa, 152;
II. The defendant pleaded failure of the consideration in the deed from Golden to Cochran and Davis. This division of the answer was stricken on motion. It is so apparent, from the facts pleaded, that the defense was not available to Thomas, that any discussion of the matter is unnecessary. —Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.