Cardinal Petroleum Co. v. Northern Pacific Railway Co.

JAMES H. O’KEEFE, District Judge.

This began as a quiet-title action on various property interests. Eventually it evolved into a contest over a railway right-of-way strip, or rather minerals beneath it. The issue became: Does the United States own these minerals, or do the adjoining landowners (Appellants) by virtue of being successors in interest to the original homestead patent holders ? The district court, in a memorandum opinion, held that the patents issued did not transfer to the homesteaders the minerals beneath the right-of-way and that they are still owned by the United States subject…