Hodgson v. Federal Oil & Development Co., 274 U.S. 15 (1927)
Hodgson v. Federal Oil & Development Company
No. 166
Argued February 24, 25, 1927
Decided April 11, 1927
274 U.S. 15
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
Syllabus
1. A motion in this Court to amend a bill on appeal overruled when it did not appear that the facts sought to be added were newly discovered, and in the absence of any affidavit concerning them. P. 17.
2. The provision of the Oil Land Leasing Act of February 25, 1920, that "all leases hereunder shall inure to the benefit of the claimant and all persons claiming through or under him" (§ 18) does not apply to one claiming an interest not through or under the lessee, but through the heirs of one of the original locators of the relinquished placer claim. P. 18.
3. Where the lease was secured by one who, having become part owner of a placer claim located by eight persons, had held exclusive adverse possession of it, claiming the whole, for many years before relinquishing it under the above Act and obtaining the lease, the heirs of one of the original locators, who were ignorant of having rights under the Act and did not comply with its terms during the six months allowed, have no interest under the lease upon the theory that the lessee, as their co-tenant, was their fiduciary. P. 18.
4. If the interests of co-tenants accrue at different times, under different instruments, and neither has superior means of information respecting the state of the title, then either, unless he employ his co-tenancy to secure an advantage, may acquire and assert a superior outstanding title where there is no joint possession. P. 19.
5. Uninterrupted possession of a mining claim by part of the owners for fifteen years under assertion of right based on recorded conveyances purporting to pass to them the whole claim, with no recognition of others as co owners, is exclusive and hostile, and not in any relationship of trust and confidence. P. 20.
5 F.2d 442 affirmed.
Appeal from a decree of the circuit court of appeals which affirmed a decree of the district court dismissing a bill seeking to hold the two appellee oil companies as trustees for the appellant to the extent of a one-eighth interest in a lease of oil land.