Delta Duck Club v. Barrios
Delta Duck Club v. Barrios
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff is a corporation whose main object is hunting and fishing. It maintains a game preserve, and this suit is brought to enjoin the defendant, a professional hunter and trapper, from exercising his vocation thereon.
For many miles above the head of the
Plaintiff has secured control and possession, by lease or purchase, of some thirty-six square miles of this territory; and maintains as a game preserve that part of this area between Main Pass on the north and Raphael’s Pass on the south.
Defendant does not deny having trespassed in the past, and does not disavow the intention to continue to trespass, but contends that plaintiff is seeking to include the seashore within its injunction, and to include also a certain area which has formed, since the patents were issued, between the seashore and the land covered l y the patents as the result of sediment deposits, and that plaintiff is seeking to include also such navigable waters as may be within the limits of said preserve.
“It is essential, in order to enjoin a person from doing a thing, to clearly state what that thing consists of.”
That in order to enjoin a person from going upon a tract of land the boundaries of that tract of land must be given with precision. Avery v. L. Onillon and Others, 10 La. Ann. 127.
It is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed, that the judgment appealed from be set aside, and that there now be judgment reinstating and perpetuating the writ of injunction herein originally issued, and forever enjoining and restraining the defendant, George Barrios, from trespassing upon the property of plaintiff, or from taking, or attempting to take, without the permission of plaintiff, game, wild fowl, or fur-bearing animals therefrom, said property being described as follows:
All of that area, bounded on the northwest by Main Pass of Cubitt’s Gap, on the southwest by Raphael’s Pass, on the west by the 40-acre line of the lands fronting on the Mississippi river, as marked by a fence along said line, and on the east by the dividing line between the lands described in the patents annexed to plaintiff’s petition herein and the lands to the east, if any, or the seashore, as said eastern line is at this time marked by the line of signposts set up by plaintiff, excluding, however, from the operation of the injunction whatever part of the seashore or of the shore of the arms of the sea, as may be included within said area, and also all such waters as in their natural condition afford a channel for useful commerce.
It is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the defendant pay the costs of this suit.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- DELTA DUCK CLUB v. BARRIOS
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- (Syllabus by Editorial Staff.) 1. Injunction (§ 119*) — Trespass—Pleading —Answer. Where, in a suit to enjoin defendant from trespassing on complainant’s game preserve, the latter’s title rested on patents obtained from the state, which were annexed to the petition by certified copies, defendant’s answer, denying complainant’s title, and failing to admit that complainant had title to any part of the area, though his real defense was that a part of the land embraced within the boundaries assigned to the preserve in the petition was not covered by the patents, was improper, and not a compliance with the Practice Act (Act No. 157 of 1912). . ■ [Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Injunction, Cent. Dig. §§ 243-250; Dec. Dig. § 119.*] 2. Corporations (§ 387*) — Ownership of Land — Grant from State — Objections— Who may Raise. • Whether a corporation organized to maintain a game preserve had acquired land therefor from the state of greater value than $300,-000, in violation of Acts 1882, p. 162, No. 112, whether the land was being held by complainant in violation of Const, art. 265, and whether in selling the land to complainant and its lessors the state observed the requirements of Act No. 215 of 1908, were questions which could not be raised by a trespasser, but only by the state acting through her Attorney General. [Ed. Note. — For other cases,’see Corporations, Cent. Dig. §§ 1548-1553; Dec. Dig. § 387.*] 3. Navigable Waters (§ 1*) — “Navigable.” . A “navigable” water which the public is entitled to use as a highway is such an one as in its natural state affords a channel for useful commerce, and not such as is only sufficient to float a hunter’s canoe. [Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Navigable Waters, Cent. Dig. §§ 5-16; Dec. Dig. § 1.* For other definitions, see Words and Phrases, vol. 5, pp. 4675-4684; vol. 8, p. 7728.] 4. Injunction (§ 208*) — Decree — Specifying Boundaries of Land. A decree, enjoining a person from going on a tract of land, must specify the boundaries of the land with precision. [Ed. Note. — For other eases, see Injunction, Cent. Dig. §§ 427, 431; Dec. Dig. § 208.*] 5. Injunction (§ 46*) — Trespass — Boundaries of Land. Where land constituting a game preserve was marked by water courses having defined banks, and by a fence and posted signs, the lines were sufficiently definite to sustain an injunction restraining defendant from trespassing thereon. [Ed. Note. — For other cases, see Injunction, Cent. Dig. §§ 98, 99, 107; Dec. Dig. § 46.*]