Our Lady of the Rockies, Inc. v. Peterson

¶101 The Court’s decision reaches a result at odds with the practical realities of the history of property ownership in Montana, particularly with respect to the location and patenting of mining claims in and around Butte. I dissent.

¶ 102 Courts in construing a statute “may with propriety recur to the history of the times when it was passed ...” in order to ascertain the reason for a particular provision. Leo Sheep Co. v. United States, 440 U.S. 668, 669, 99 S. Ct. 1403, 1405 (1979). The Court would be well advised to examine the development of the Road at issue in light of the history…