Fred Kuchenig v. The California Company

WISDOM, Circuit Judge:

In this diversity action conflicting claims of the plaintiff and of the State of Louisiana to oil-rich water bottoms raise the question whether the State (a) in its capacity as the defendant’s lessor and also (b) in its capacity as a sovereign State asserting title to allegedly inalienable beds of navigable waters is an indispensable party defendant.

The land in suit is in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. It is covered by the waters of Breton Sound, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. The plaintiff, Fred Zuchenig, a resident of Missouri, is the adopted son and sole heir of his…