Smith v. Northern Pacific Ry. Co.
Montana Supreme Court
Appeal from District Court, Ravalli County; R. Lee McCulloch, Judge. Action by Rolla B. Smith against the Northern Pacific Railway Company. Plaintiff had judgment. Defendant appeals.
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Appeal from District Court, Ravalli County; R. Lee McCulloch, Judge. Action by Rolla B. Smith against the Northern Pacific Railway Company. Plaintiff had judgment. Defendant appeals. Where an entryman relinquishes his entry before perfecting patent but after a railroad company had complied with the statute of March 3, 1875, and on the date of such relinquishment or thereafter another person made homestead entry (on the same land, the railroad’s right of way over the land is superior to the rights of the new homestead entryman, there being no privity of estate between the original entryman and…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Hurly
This is an action to recover the value of twelve acres of land •occupied by the appellant and its. predecessors in interest as a right of way for a railroad across eighty acres of land, since the year 1887.
On July 5, 1873, one Trochee, a Flathead Indian, under the Act of Congress approved June 5, 1872, selected certain lands as his allotment in the Bitter Root Valley. Thereafter a *20patent, containing restrictions against alienation of the land, was issued but never actually delivered to him. Later he consented to a sale thereof by the secretary of the interior, pursuant to the Act of Congress…
2Cases cited21 opinions
- Matter of HeffSupreme Court of the United States · 1905
- Roberts v. Northern Pacific RailroadSupreme Court of the United States · 1895
- Boyd v. Nebraska Ex Rel. ThayerSupreme Court of the United States · 1892
- Northern Pacific Railroad v. SmithSupreme Court of the United States · 1898
- Northern Pacific R. Co. v. SmithSupreme Court of the United States · 1898
16 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by9 opinions
- State v. Big SheepMontana Supreme Court · 1926
- Vermillion v. Spotted ElkNorth Dakota Supreme Court · 1957
- Bonnet v. SeekinsMontana Supreme Court · 1952
- State v. MonroeMontana Supreme Court · 1929
- Riddock v. City of HelenaMontana Supreme Court · 1984
4 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.