O'Keefe v. Robison

This proceeding is upon motion for leave to file a petition for mandamus. The prayer is that this writ issue requiring the respondent, J. T. Robison, Commissioner of the General Land Office, to issue a permit to the relator authorizing him to prospect for oil and gas on lands which, it is claimed, are public lands. The land involved is some 469 acres lying in the bed of Dixon Creek, in Hutchinson County, Texas.

It is alleged that Dixon Creek is a statutory navigable stream, and that therefore the bed of the stream is the property of the State. This insistence is predicated upon Revised…