Stuart v. Union Pacific Railroad

Suit to quiet title to the E. U2 of the N. W. 34* and the N. E. Ji of the S. W. M and the N. W. % of the S. E. M of Section 20, Township 38, Range 67 West, situated in the city and county of Denver (formerly in Arapahoe County), State of Colorado.

The suit was brought in the District Court of .the city and county of Denver against the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, the Colorado Eastern Railroad Company and the Union Pacific Railroad Company and removed on the petition of the latter company to the United'States Circuit Court for the District of Colorado, on the ground of a separable controversy. A motion to remand was made and denied. The railroad company answered, joining issue as to so much of the lands as constituted a tract 200 feet in width on each side of its road. It' asserted title as successor of the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, which had been granted the tract as a right of way, it was' alleged, by the acts of Congress generally denominated the Pacific Railroad Acts.

The discussion in the case will turn upon the title of the railroad rather than upon the title of petitioners. There k

The Pacific Railroad Acts have been before thiá" court so many times that it seems unnecessary to make further quotation from them. The first of them was 'passed July 1, 1862 ( 12 Stat. 489 , c. 120): the second one, July 2, 1864 ( 13 Stat. 356 , c. 216), and two others respectively'on July 3,1866 ( 14 Stat. 79 , c. 159),‘ and March 3, 1869 ( 15 Stat. 324 , c. 127). Their relation constitutes the controversy in the case, and, simply stated, it is whether the right of way granted to the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western Railroad Company, the name of which was changed in 1863 to Union Pacific Railway Company, Eastern Division, and' in 1864 to the Kansas Pacific Railway Company, terminated at the one hundredth meridian or extended westward of that point to Denver. The petitioners contend for the former; the railroad company, for the latter.

' The explicit contention of petitioners is that the right of way granted to the Kansas Pacific Railway Company (we use the latest name) does not extend to the lands in question, for that company, under its first name of Leavenworth, Pawnee. & Western Railroad Company, and all other eastern branches of the main line were authorized to build only to the one hundredth meridian, and no farther.

The main line was, under the act of July 1, 1862, authorized to be constructed by the Union Pacific Railroad Company westward through Cheyenne to the western boundary of Nevada and possibly farther to meet the Central Pacific Railroad, which was authorized to

Section 9 of the act authorized the Leavenworth, Pawnee & Western Railroad to construct a road from the Missouri river at the mouth of the Kansas “to the aforesaid point on the 100th meridian . . . upon the same terms and conditions in all respects” as provided for the main line. The road was required to be so located through Kansas as to be between the mouth of tho Kansas river and the designated point on the one hundredth meridian, and, it was provided, that the several roads from Missouri and Iowa authorized by the act to connect with the same could make the connection within the limits' prescribed in the act, providing it could be done without deviating from the general direction of the whole line to the Pacific coast.

There is no uncertainty in the act of 1862. The initial point of the main line was the one hundredth meridian, and at that point the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad Company (now the Kansas Pacific Railway) and other eastern branches were to connect with the main line.

The next act is that of July 2,1864, and on its provisions arise the principal controversy in the case. It is contended by the respondent railroad company that the act authorized the Kansas Pacific road (then, as we shall see; the Union Pacific Railroad, Eastern Division) to build westward of the one hundredth meridian, and granted it, besides certain sections of the public lands, a right of way

The act of 1864 was entitled “An Act to amend” the act of 1862, and it was provided by § 9 that “ ... any company authorized by this act to construct its road and telegraph line-from the Missouri river to the initial point aforesaid [100th meridian] may construct its road and telegraph line so as to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad at any point westwardly of such initial point, in case such company shall deem such westward connection more practicable or desirable; and in aid of the construction of so much of its road and telegraph line as shall be a departure from the route hereinbefore provided for its road, such company shall be entitled to all the benefits, and be subject to all the conditions and restrictions, of this act; Provided further, however, That the bonds of the United States shall not he issued to such company for a greater amount than is hereinbefore provided, if the same had united with the Union Pacific Railroad on the one hundredth degree of longitude; nor shall such company be entitled to receive any greater amount of alternate sections of public lands than are also herein provided.” (Italics ours.)

By applying very simple rules of construction to these acts and from a consideration of their purpose and the means which were deemed necessary to accomplish that purpose, we should have to reject the contention of plaintiffs. We are relieved, however, of the necessity of a lengthy discussion and one which we might consider necessary, in deference to the-earnestness of counsel, by the previous decisions of this court and may rest our judgment on their authority.

The acts of Congress came up for consideration and construction in Missouri, K. & T. Ry. Co. v. Kansas Pacific Ry. Co., 97 U. S. 491 , 494, upon the very points now involved. The contest was between the two railroad companies as to which was entitled to certain lands, whether the Kansas Pacific Railway Company took them under the act of 1862 as amended in 1864, or whether the Missouri &c. Railway Company was entitled to them under a grant to it made July 26, 1866. It is mani

In United States v. Kansas Pacific Ry. Co., 99 U. S. 455 , the extent of the grant made by the acts of 1862 and 1864 again came up for decision, and upon issues more pertinent to the present controversy, if possible, than those in the other case. The case concerned the extent of the lien of the Government and the liability of the company for 5% of the net earnings of that portion of the road of the company west of the one hundredth meridian. The answer was considered as turning on the construction of § 9, supra. Commenting on its provisions, the-court said (p. 457): “It thus appears that whilst the company was authorized to extend its road west of the one hundredth meridian, if it saw fit so to do, it was entirely in its option; and if it did, it was not to expect, or have, any subsidy of government bonds for such extension.”

It may be said that Union Pacific Railroad Co. v. Harris, 215 U. S. 386 , puts a different construction upon the acts of 1862 and 1864 from that received in the cases cited, and, it must be admitted, there is language in the opinion which may be so understood, but that it was not so intended is made clear by Kindred v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., 225 U. S. 582 , where it is again declared that under congressional authority the route of the road was changed so that its connection with the Union Pacific Railroad would be made at a, point farther west than was originally intended.

We have seen that the act of July 3, 1866, extended the time of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, Eastern Division (now the Kansas Pacific), to file its map of general route and provided for a reservation of land all along the route; but it also provided that the company should be entitled only to the same amount of bonds as it would' have been entitled to if it had connected its line “with the Union Pacific Railroad on the 100th degree of longitude as now required by law.” (Italics ours.) It is insisted by petitioners that this provision is a legislative construction

There are specific contentions addressed to the grant of the right of way. Some of them involve the element that the acts of Congress granted no right to the Kansas Pacific Railway Company to build west of the one hundredth meridian. That we have disposed of. Some of them are based on the following propositions: (1) that a grant of the right of way cannot be implied; it must actually exist in express words; (2) it cannot be implied from the use of the word “ ‘benefits, as there are many other benefits in the same act to which that word more aptly applies; (3) it is shown by the act that it never was intended to apply to the right of way. The last two contentions may be immediately rejected. The act manifestly applies to a right of way, and there is no distinction made between “benefits,” for the language is “shall be entitled to all the benefits,” save that of receiving bonds. A right of way is a substantial and obvious benefit. Railroad Co. v. Baldwin, 103 U. S. 426 , 430.

There are -two other contentions which deserve more extended comment. They are, (a) “that the act of 1864,

In reply to these contentions the respondent company insists that neither a map of general location nor of general route was necessary to the acquisition of a right of way; that actual construction would secure it. The evidence as to filing maps is somewhat uncertain. The Court of Appeals in its opinion• says: “There was some evidence indicating that a map, showing the general route of the railroad westwardly to the ■ eastern Colorado line, was filed with the Secretary of the Interior prior to November 30,1866', the date not being more definitely stated; that a.map showing the general route from the eastern Colorado line to Denver was accepted by that officer November 30, 1866, and that a map showing the definite location of the railroad to Denver was filed in the land office at Denver September 24, 1870; but none of these maps, nor any better statement of what was shown thereon, • was offered in evidence.”

It is, however, admitted by petitioners that a right of way could be acquired by actual construction of.the road, and the railroad company finally rests its title on actual construction of the road under the granting acts. It admits that “the line of railroad was not definitely located until the actual construction thereof.” But it is contended that upon its construction “the right of way attached' to the line as so constructed, but took effect as of the date of the act of 1864.” In other words, it is contended that the right of way granted by the acts is given definite location and precision by the construction of the road and

In this connection it is to be remembered that the grant of the right of way differed from the grant of alternate odd-numbered sections in that, while both were expressed in the words of a grant in prcesenti, the former was without limitation or exception, while the latter was expressly made subject to the limitation or exception that it should not include any lands which, although public at the date of the grant, were sold, reserved or otherwise disposed of by the United States, or to which a preemption or homestead claim had attached, at the date of definite location. Of such a difference between an unconditional grant of a right of way and a qualified grant of alternate odd-numbered sections this court said, in Railroad Co. v. Baldwin, 103 U. S. 426 , 430: “The uncertainty as to the ultimate location of the line of the road is recognized throughout the act, and where any qualification is intended in the operation of the grant of lands, from this circumstance, it is designated. Had a similar qualification upon the absolute grant of the right of way been intended, it can hardly be doubted that it would have been expressed. The fact that none is expressed is conclusive that none exists. We see no reason, therefore, for not giving to the words of present grant with respect to the

Petitioners rely upon adverse possession, established, as it is contended, under the statute of Colorado by the payment of taxes, and invoke in connection with such adverse possession the act of June 24, 1912, 37 Stat. 138 , c. 181, entitled “An Act legalizing certain conveyances heretofore made by the Union Pacific Railroad Company.”

Section 1 of the act legalizes all conveyances made by the railroad and railway companies to which grants of a right of way have been made, as we have stated, to the extent that the conveyances “would have been legal or valid if the land involved therein had been held by the corporation making such conveyance or agreement under absolute or fee simple title.” It is further provided that Where adverse possession is claimed of any part of such right of way under the laws of the State' where the land is situated, such adverse possession shall have the same effect as though the right of way had been granted absolutely or in fee simple instead of being, granted as a right of way. Of the effect of this act we are not called upon to express an .opinion other than to say that it cannot avail petitioners, for the record shows that the respondent company also returned the right of way for taxation and paid the taxes thereon. In that respect the parties are on an equal footing.

Decree affirmed.

Mr. Justice Holmes and Mr. Justice Pitney took no part in the decision.