Davis v. Johnston

George Rose Smith, Justice.

This appeal raises a question of first impression in Arkansas: In a suit to determine the true ownership of the leasehold interest in lands apparently containing oil and gas, can the chancellor appoint a receiver pendente lite and authorize him to contract for the drilling of an oil well upon the property, to keep it from being drained by an existing well upon neighboring property? In the trial court the chancellor appointed such a receiver and authorized it to proceed in the manner indicated.

The facts may be stated in a few sentences. The appellants, claiming to…