Choctaw, O. G. R. Co. v. Sittel

1908 OK 151, 97 P. 363, 21 Okla. 695, 1908 Okla. LEXIS 168
Supreme Court of Oklahoma·Decided August 10, 1908·No. No. 488, Ind. T.·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

KaNE, J.

This was a suit for an accounting commenced in the United States Court for the Central District of the Indian Territory, wherein Edwin D. Sittel and Fritz Sittel were plaintiffs, and Allen Wright, J. W. McLoud, as trustee, and Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad Company, a corporation, were defendants. The plaintiffs in their complaint stated their cause of action, in substance, as follows:

That Edwin D. Sittel is a white man, who, at the time of the commencement of this suit, had resided within the- Choctaw Nation during a period of 25 years, and that Fritz Sittel is a son of the aforesaid Edwin D. Sittel, and is a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Indians by marriage, and has resided within the Choctaw Nation during 'the past 23 years. That the defendant J. W. McLoud claims to be or to hare been the duly appointed trustee in the matter of a pretended trust deed executed by the above-named Fritz Sittel and wife, Melvina, on the 23d day of October, 1890, to secure the payment of $45,000, which it was pretended that Charles Iiartshorne and William C. Alderson and their associates had loaned to Fritz Sittel and his wife, Mel-vina. That the defendant Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad Company is a corporation organized under and by virtue of an act of Congress, and is doing a railroad and mining business within the jurisdiction of the United States court for said Central District, and has agents and officers located within said jurisdiction. That during the year 1894 the plaintiff Fritz Sittel, as a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Indians, settled, upon and obtained possession of a certain tract of land situated in said Choctaw Na *697 t-ion, which tract of land is specifically described in plaintiff’s complaint.' That during the year 1886 the plaintiff Edwin D. Sittel moved upon and took possession of said tract of land as a tenant of plaintiff Fritz Sittel, and remained thereon, and improved the same until the year 1899. That in the year 1899 Edwin D. Chadick, acting as the agent and general manager of the Choctaw Coal & Railway Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Minnesota, which corporation was authorized by an act of Congress to do business within the Indian Territory, entered into a contract with these plaintiffs, by which these plaintiffs were to allow, and did agree to allow, the said Chadick as manager and agent of said last-mentioned corporation to build many houses on the aforesaid tract of land. That said contract was in writing and signed by these plaintiffs. That the said Edwin D. Chadick took charge of said contract, and delivered the same to the said Choctaw Coal & Railway Company, and the-railway company did thereafter deliver the same to the 'defendant Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad Company, and said last-mentioned railroad company now has possession of said contract, and said plaintiffs are unable to obtain possession of the same or a copy thereof. That pursuant to said contract said Choctaw Coal & Railway Company advanced the sum of $18,700 for the purpose of building the before-mentioned houses. That prior to the time said money was advanced it was mutually agreed and understood by and between these plaintiffs and said Chadick and the officers of said Choctaw Coal & Railway Company that the said corporation was to have possession of said houses when erected, was to collect the rent thereon, and should apply the same to the cost of building the same, and should charge the money so advanced to these plaintiffs, and credit these plaintiffs with the rent received from the use of said houses. And it was further agreed and understood by and between all of the parties to said contract that when the rent of said houses should equal the amount so advanced by said corporation in the erection of said houses, together with 6 per centum interest per annum on said amount, then the *698 corporation should and would deliver possession of said houses to these plaintiffs, and would relinquish all of its claims to and interest in said houses to these plaintiffs. That, pursuant to said agreement entered into by and between said corporation and said Chadick and these plaintiffs, the said corporation erected on said land certain houses, which are specifically set out and described in the complaint. That tire amount expended by said corporation in the erection of said houses amounted to $18,700, and the rent which said corporation and its assigns have collected for the use of said houses amounted to $31,688 or should amount to said sum. That all of said houses were completed on the 1st day of October, 1890, and immediately thereafter said corporation took possession of all of said houses, and did rent and use and occupy the same, and the said corporation and its agents and assigns have ever since held, used, and enjoyed the use and rent from said houses.

.There are further allegations to the effect: That the before-mentioned trust deed, executed by said Fritz Sittel and his wife, Melvina, was executed without consideration. That long after the said houses were erected the aforesaid Chadick, as the agent and general manager of the Choctaw Coal & Railway Company, stated to said Fritz Sittel that certain members of the council of the Choctaw Nation were then contending that the said houses belonged to the said railroad company, and that as manager of the railroad he was fearful of trouble with the authorities of the Choctaw Nation; also, that some of the directors of the railroad company were apprehensive lest the money which had been expended in the erection of said houses should be lost. That he as manager of said railroad company desired to secure a mortgage on said houses, so that it might appear to the authorities of said nation that said Fritz Sittel was the owner of said houses, and so that said Chadick might say to said directors that said money was secured by a mortgage.. That, in order to aid said Chadick, said Fritz Sittel and his wife, Melvina, did execute said trust deed. That there was no other consideration paid to or received by said Fritz Sittel or his wife, Melvina, for the execu *699 tion of said deed. That at the suggestion of Chadick said deed was made to recite that Charles Hartshorne, vho was then president of said corporation, and William C. Alderson, who was then treasurer of said corporation, did advance to said Fritz Sittel and his wife, Melvina, the sum of $45,0.00, when in truth and in fact said Hartshorne nor said Alderson nor any one else had advanced to said Sittel and his wife anything whatever. That said plaintiff Edwin D. Sittel knew nothing of the execution of said trust deed until a long time after the same had been executed.

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Choctaw, O. G. R. Co. v. Sittel, 1908 OK 151, 97 P. 363, 21 Okla. 695, 1908 Okla. LEXIS 168 (Okla. 1908).

1908 OK 151 (Choctaw, O. G. R. Co. v. Sittel) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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