Seneca Nation of Indians v. Knight
New York Court of Appeals
Appeal from the Supreme Court. Ejectment for an acre of land, including a saw-mill, pond, dam-and the north bank of the Cattaraugus creek. Upon the trial at the Erie circuit, it •appeared that the premises in controversy were the slope of the north bank, and the land between the bank and the centre of the Cattaraugus creek, about one mile from its mouth.
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Appeal from the Supreme Court. Ejectment for an acre of land, including a saw-mill, pond, dam-and the north bank of the Cattaraugus creek. Upon the trial at the Erie circuit, it •appeared that the premises in controversy were the slope of the north bank, and the land between the bank and the centre of the Cattaraugus creek, about one mile from its mouth. The plaintiffs made title under a conveyance to them by the Holland Land Company (so called), of a tract of land described as “beginning at a post marked Ho. 0, standing on the bank of lake Erie at the mouth of Cattaraugus creek, and on the…
1Opinion of the Court
Comstock, Ch. J.
We do not entertain any serious doubt upon the question presented in this case. -The rule of construction contended for by the plaintiffs has often been considered by the courts, and has become well 'settled. In the case of Child v. Starr (4 Hill, 369), it was held that a boundary line running eastwardly to the Genesee river, thence northwardly along the shore of the river, conveyed no part of the bed of the stream, and that the grantee took only to low water mark. But the controlling words were, “ along the shore of the river;” and upon the force of those words alone the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Luce v. CarleyNew York Supreme Court · 1840
- Seneca Nation v. . KnightNew York Court of Appeals · 1859