State v. Imlah

This is a suit by the state to quiet title to what it claims is an island which has been formed by the current in the bed of the Willamette river. The Willamette river at that place is a navigable, fresh-water stream and the state claims title by virtue of its ownership and sovereignty over the beds of navigable streams within its borders. The defendants severally own the lands bordering on the west bank of the river directly opposite to the premises in controversy and claim the same as an accretion to their lands. From a decree holding that the same does constitute an accretion to…