Supreme Court of the United States, 1900

Lowry v. Silver City Gold & Silver Mining Co.

Supreme Court of the United States · Decided December 3, 1900 · Brewer, After Stating the Case

179 U.S. 196; 21 S. Ct. 104; 45 L. Ed. 151; 1900 U.S. LEXIS 1859 (United States Reports)

Counsel

Mr. O. W. Powers for plaintiffs in error. Mr. Arthur Brown and Mr. R. P. Henderson were on his brief., Mr. Charles S. Varian and Mr. F. S. Richards for defendant in error, submitted on their brief.

Cases that cite this one

7 later published cases cite this decision.

Golden Giant Mining Co. v. Hill (N.M. 1921)
Ranchers Exploration and Development Co. v. Anaconda Co. (District Court, D. Utah 1965)
Slate Creek Mining Co. v. Sundt (United States District Court for the District of Alaska 1932)
Stewart v. Westlake (8th Cir. 1906)
Tonopah & Salt Lake Min. Co. v. Tonopah Min. Co. of Nevada (U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Nevada 1903)
Bell Telephone Co. v. Van Dyke (Supreme Court of the United States 1935)
Enterprise Irrigation District v. Farmers Mutual Canal Co. (Supreme Court of the United States 1917)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

Mr. Justice Brewer,

after stating the case, delivered the opinion of the court.

This was plainly an attempt on the part of the plaintiffs in error — two of whom were lessees of the defendant in error— under the forms of law to appropriate to themselves property which for years had been in the unchallenged possession of the defendant in error, and upon which it had expended many hundreds of dollars. That such attempt was unsuccessful in the courts is no more than was to be expected.

The Supreme Court of the State placed its decisions upon two grounds: First, that although the Evening Star claim included the original discovery shaft of the Wheeler claim, it did not thereby destroy that claim in view of the fact that long prior to the location of the Evening Star the owners of the Wheeler had located a new shaft and developed the mine in that shaft. Gwillim v. Donnellan, 115 U. S. 45, was held not applicable. The other ground was estoppel by virtue of the lease under which two of the plaintiffs in error acquired possession. While the former ground is the one principally discussed in the opinion, the latter was adverted to in a few words at its close. The latter is sufficient to dispose of the case in this court. Eustis v. Bolles, 150 U. S. 361. See also De Lamar's Nevada Gold Mining Company v. Nesbitt, 177 U. S. 523, and cases cited in the opinion. The writ of error is

Dismissed.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.