United States v. Oregon, 295 U.S. 1 (1935)

United States v. Oregon

No. 13, original

Argued March 12, 1935
Decided April 1, 1935
295 U.S. 1

1. An Executive Order setting aside a nonnavigable lake on the public domain as a bird reservation was within the authority of the President, though made before the effective date of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of July 3, 1918. P. 10.

2. Title to land within the meander line of a nonnavigable lake on the public domain did not pass to the State as an incident to ownership of abutting uplands granted by the United States as school land, where, prior to approval of the survey of the uplands, the lake had been set aside by Executive Order as a federal reservation. P. 9.

3. Acceptance by a other lands in lieu of lands within the meander line of a nonnavigable lake adjacent to uplands granted it as school lands held a practical construction of the boundary and a relinquishment of a claim to title within the meander. P. 10.

4. In a suit by the United States against a State to quiet title to the bed of a lake on which the State owns part of the uplands bordering the meander line, the owners of other parts of the uplands in like situation are not necessary parties, and their rights will not be affected by the decree. P. 12.

5. Upon the admission of a State to the Union, the title of the United States to lands underlying navigable waters within the State passes to it, as incident to the transfer to the local sovereignty, and is subject only to the paramount power of the United States to control such waters for purposes of navigation in interstate and foreign commerce. P. 14.

6. But if the waters are not navigable in fact, the title of the United States to land underlying them remains unaffected by the creation of the new State. P. 14.

7. In determining whether title to lands underlying waters passed to the State in virtue of its admission to statehood, the question whether the waters were navigable or nonnavigable is a federal question, which is to be determined according to the laws and usages applied by the federal courts, even though the waters are not capable of use for navigation in interstate or foreign commerce. P. 14.

8. The test of navigability is whether the body of water in question, in its natural and ordinary condition, is susceptible of use for navigation in the customary modes of trade and travel over water, and has capacity for general and common usefulness for trade and commerce. P. 15.

Upon the evidence in this case, Malheur, Mud, and Harney Lakes, and connecting waters in Oregon, are adjudged to have been nonnavigable at the time of admission of the State and since. Pp. 8, 16 et seq.

9. Previous recognition of the nonnavigable character of a lake on the public domain, by the Secretary of the Interior and by the state courts, is significant in determining the question. P. 23.

10. A bill to quiet title may not be defeated by showing that the plaintiff’s interest, otherwise sufficient to support the bill, may be subject to possibly superior rights in third persons not parties to the suit. It is enough that the interest asserted by the plaintiff in possession of land is superior to that of those who are parties defendant. P. 24.

11. A possession under color and claim of title which is sufficient to preclude the claimant from trying the title in ejectment is an adequate basis for a suit in equity to remove clouds created by assertions of an inferior title by another. P. 25.

12. The United States has complete control, free from restriction or limitation by the States, over the disposition of title to its lands; the construction of its grants is a federal question, and involves the consideration of state questions only insofar as it may be determined as a matter of federal law that the United States had impliedly adopted and assented to a state rule of construction as applicable to its conveyance. P. 27.

13. A state statute declaring that lakes within the State which have been meandered by the United States surveys are navigable public waters of the State, and that the title to their beds is in the State, can have no effect upon title retained by the United States to the bed of a nonnavigable lake, nor upon the interest in the bed that may have passed to others as incidents of grants of the United States conveying abutting uplands. Pp. 26, 28.

Decree for the plaintiff.

Original suit brought by the United States against the State of Oregon to quiet title to unsurveyed land within a meander line purporting to mark the boundaries of lands underlying three lakes, and waters connecting them, in that State. For decree, see post, p. 701.