Wall v. Utah Copper Co.
Wall v. Utah Copper Co.
Opinion of the Court
A mining claim was located by John Anderson in the West Mountain Mining District, Salt Lake County, Utah, as the Amanda Lode. It was later further designated as U. S. Lot No. 191 when surveyed for patent. That survey was made in 1879, and describes a rectangular parallelogram 1,480 feet long by 200 feet wide, lying easterly and westerly. It was not within the limits of public land surveys. The initial point of the survey, as shown by U. S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor’s notes, was the center of an indine shaft op the claim, thence by two courses to the southeast corner of lhe claim, at which point the surveyor, according to a recitation iti his notes, erected a mound of stones and set a pine post 41/2,x4"x4", and by appropriate marks on the post designated and fixed it as Corner No. 1, tying it to a mahogany tree 4 inches in diameter which “bears S. E. 27 ft. distant,” thence N. 10° 45' if. 200 ft. to the northeast corner, where he erected a mound of stones and set a like post and marked it as Corner No. 2 of the claim. This corner was not directly tied. Thence N. 79° 15' W. 1,480 ft. to the northwest corner of the claim, where he erected a mound of stones and set a like post and marked it as Corner No. 3 of the claim, and gave that corner three direct ties, thence S. 10° 45' W. 200 ft. to the southwest comer of the claim, where he erected a mound of stones and set a like post and marked it as Corner No. 4 of the claim. This corner was not directly
Mining operations about the southeast corner have caused a caving in so that the stake and mound of stones designated in the survey as Corner No. 1 were lost, and presumptively the mahogany tree to which it was tied went down also. U. S. Patent issued in 1880, conveying the claim to John Anderson, describing it as Amanda Lode Lot 191, and by metes and bounds. Thereafter title to it passed to Enos A. Wall, who brought this suit and died pending the cause, wherein he charged that defendant was and had been trespassing upon the claim through underground workings and had extracted and carried away ores of great value, for which he asked judgment, that defendant be enjoined from future trespasses and that his title to the claim be quieted in him.
After patent had issued for the Amanda a number of other mining claims were located nearby, and the four with which we are now concerned are the Emma, Sur. No. 3534, Emma No. 1, Sur. No. 3676, Charles Read, Sur. No. 3489, and Mattie, Sur. No. 4317, all of which overlap the Amanda, as shown by this diagram:
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The Emma was surveyed for patent in 1897, the Emma No. 1 in 1898, and patents for both of them issued to one Quinn in 1899. The Charles Read was surveyed for patent in 1897, and patent for it issued to the original plaintiff Wall in 1899. The Mattie was surveyed for patent in 1900, Wall being the owner, but patent has not issued. Wall later became the owner of the two Emma claims, and conveyed them and the Charles Read and Mattie to the defendant, or (as to some of them) to its-grantors. He had not acquired the Amanda claim prior to parting with title to the other four claims. The field notes of surveys of the Emma, Emma No. 1, and Charles Read place the southerly side-line and the easterly end line of the Amanda, as shown by the dotted line X Y Z on the diagram, within the outer boundaries of that
On the foregoing facts the court gave plaintiffs the relief sought as to all ground in conflict between the Amanda and the four other claims which lies north and west of the dotted line X Y Z, but held that as to the ground east and south of that line, marked as tracts A, B, C, D and E, the plaintiffs were not entitled to recover, resting its conclusion upon a Utah statute which reads thus:
“If any person shall hereafter convey any real estate by conveyance purporting to convey the same in fee simple absolute, and shall not at the time of such conveyance have the legal estate in such real estate, but shall after-wards acquire the same, the legal estate subsequently acquired shall immediately pass to the grantee, his heirs, successors, or assigns, and such conveyance shall be as valid as if such legal estate had been in the grantor at the time of the conveyance.” Comp. Laws 1917, § 4879.
Obviously, we need not decide which patent passed title to the tracts in dispute. The patent surveys of the four claims represented the disputed tracts as being parts of them, and the patents that issued for three of them purported to convey four of the tracts as parts of the patented claim. “It is a familiar rule of law, that, where a plat is referred to in a deed as containing a description of land, the courses, distances, and other particulars appearing upon the plat are to be as much regarded, in ascertaining the true description of the land and the intent of the parties, as if they had .been expressly enumerated in the deed.” Jefferis v. Land Co., 134 U. S. 178, 194, 10 Sup. Ct. 518, 522 (33 L. Ed. 872); see also Chapman and Dewey v. Levee District, 232 U. S. 186, 197, 34 Sup. Ct. 297, 58 L. Ed. 564. Wall, when he executed and delivered his deeds to the four claims, described them by the names and numbers given to them in the United States mineral surveys for patents, which was a representation that the premises being conveyed by him were premises described in those surveys and patents. It is not questioned that his, deeds, under the local statutory rule of construction, purported to convey title in fee simple absolute; and assuming now, without deciding, that the tracts in dispute were a part of the Amanda claim as patented, nevertheless when he thereafter acquired title to that claim the statute at once operated to immediately pass title in the disputed tracts to his grantees and their assigns.
Furthermore, the statute on after-acquired title aside, we are„ not convinced that the facts are insufficient to raise an estoppel. Van Rensselaer v. Kearney, 11 Flow. 297, 13 L. Ed. 703; Ryan v. U. S., 136 U. S. 68, 10 Sup. Ct. 913, 34 L. Ed. 447; Bush v. Person, 18 How. 82, 15 L. Ed. 273; Tucker v. Ferguson, 22 Wall. 527, 573, 22 L. Ed. 805;
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WALL v. UTAH COPPER CO.
- Status
- Published