Texas Co. v. State & Duval County Ranch Co.

The parties to this suit are The State of Texas, The Texas Company, and Duval County Ranch Company. They will be referred to as The State, Texas Company, and Duval.

The instruments out of which this controversy grew were executed by Duval, as grantor, to R. E. Breeding, as grantee, on May 23, 1922, and by Breeding to Texas Company on May 25, 1922. Both instruments conveyed a mineral estate in 16,000 acres of land, 12,000 privately owned in fee and 4,000 in which the minerals were owned by the Public Free School Fund. The instruments were identical except in unimportant particulars. Since it is…