Harper v. Dodd

STEPHENS, Associate Justice.

Appellee applied in July, 1901, to purchase the sections of school land in controversy, notwithstanding the Commissioner of the General Land Office had awarded them to appellant, and had before appellee made his application to purchase (but after he had settled on one of the sections) accepted appellant’s proof of three years occupancy and issued certificate showing that fact.

These facts were undisputed, the controverted issue being whether or not appellant had ever been an actual settler. The court instructed the jury that his proof of occupancy, though regular in…