Riddle v. Ellis

1929 OK 417, 281 P. 286, 139 Okla. 68, 1929 Okla. LEXIS 223
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 8, 1929
Docket18480
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1929 OK 417 (Riddle v. Ellis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Riddle v. Ellis, 1929 OK 417, 281 P. 286, 139 Okla. 68, 1929 Okla. LEXIS 223 (Okla. 1929).

Opinion

DIFFENDAFFER, O.

Defendant in error, hereinafter referred to as plaintiff, commenced this action, against plaintiff in error, hereinafter referred to as defendant, to quiet the title of plaintiff in and to the E.y2 of the N. E.% of section 11, twp. 10 N., range 3 E., and for cancellation of a certain oil and gas lease and an assignment thereof to defendant, covering the land. He alleged that he is the owner of the legal and equitable title to the land, and that he and those through whom he claims had been in the open, exclusive, and notorious Possession thereof for more than 15 years next preceding the commencement of this action; that defendant claimed to have an oil and gas lease upon the land by virtue of a purported assignment from one William L. Bowie, which lease purports to have been executed by one Mah-ke-se-ah and A. W. Leech, Superintendent in charge of the Shawnee Indian Agency; that the lease is of record in Pottowatomie county, having been placed of record July 11, 1925; that the assignment dated August 3, 1925, is also of record; that the said William L. Bowie never acquired any right, title, or interest in and to the oil and gas rights, in that said A. W. Leech did not have any right or authority in any capacity to execute the oil and gas lease, and that if Mah-ke-se-ah executed the same, which is denied, he only *69 had an undivided one-third interest in the land and could not convey an oil and gas lease for said interest without being joined by his cotenants. It is further alleged that defendant had failed and refused to comply with the terms of the lease by paying the rentals provided for therein; that plaintiff had been the owner of said land since September 22, 1925, and had been prevented from enjoying the full use thereof by reason of the cloud cast upon his title by the lease and assignment being of record.

After unsuccessful demurrer, defendant answered by general denial, admitting that plaintiff: had acquired title to the premises on September 22, 1925, by deed from Mahke-se-ah, Mah-ta-pene and Pum-y-tum-moke, as the heirs of Pah-ko-tah, deceased. Defendant further alleged that Pah-ko-tah, being the owner of the land, died prior to November 3, 1924, leaving as his sole heirs at law the three Indians named as grantors in plaintiff’s deed; that on November 3, 1924, said heirs made, executed, and delivered the oil and gas lease in question in favor of William L. Bowie, a copy thereof being attached to the answer and made a part thereof; that said lease was approved by the Secretary af the Interior on November 24, 1924, and ihat upon such approval, the lease became a valid and subsisting contract between the parties; that said lease was sigend by Mah-ke-se-ah in the presence of two witnesses, naming them, and that A. W. Leech, acting for Mah-ta-pene and Pum-ytum-moke, executed the lease as their agent and attorney-in-fact; that this was on November 3, 1924; that thereafter, on February 20. 1925, Mah-ta-pene executed the lease, with full knowledge that Leeeh, acting as agent and attorney in fact for her, had executed the same, thereby ratifying the acts of Leech in executing the lease, and at the same time accepted her share of the bonus and advance rentals with full knowledge of the facts; that, in January or February, 1925, Pum-y-tum-moke, with full knowledge of the acts of A. W. Leech, ratified the acts of said Leech, and adopted said lease by accepting- the benefits created by its terms and receiving an undivided one-third of the bonus money and advance rentals paid thereunder; that, thereafter, Bowie assigned the lease to defendant, which assignment was in writing and placed of record in Pottawatomie county, February 15, 1926; that prior to the date of the assignment, the lease was placed of record in said county on July 11, 1925: that said lease was of record on ¡g'-mUmi'er 22. 1925. when plaintiff acquired his deed, and that plaintiff had full knowledge thereof^ and had he made any inquiry of his grantors, he would have been advised of all the facts concerning the execution and ratification of the lease as alleged in the answer. Defendant further denied failure to pay rentals, and affirmatively alleged that, on February 10, 1926, and without any knowledge that plaintiff had acquired any interest in the land, he paid to the Superintendent of the Shawnee Indian Agency the full amount of the advance royalty and rentals provided for in the lease so as to continue the lease in full force from one year from November 24, 1925, and thereafter, upon receiving notice of plaintiff’s interest and without demand therefor, he tendered plaintiff the sum of $92, being the full amount of the advance royalty and rentals, which was by the plaintiff refused.

By cross-petition, he adopted all the allegations of his answer, and by appropriate allegations asserted the validity of his oil and gas lease as superior to the claims of plaintiff, and asked that it be so adjudged. A copy of the assignment and of plaintiff’s deed were attached to the answer and made a part thereof.

Plaintiff replied by general denial, except as to the admission in the answer of certain allegations in plaintiff’s petition.

The cause was tried to the court, resulting in a finding in favor of plaintiff and against defendant, to the effect that defendant acquired no rights under the lease and assignment, and a judgment canceling same of record. From this judgment, defendant appeals.

It is apparent that this litigation, to some extent, grew out of the fact that the land involved was considered and treated by the parties interested, at the time the oil and gas lease was given, as restricted Indian land, and subject to the jurisdiction and control of the Secretary of the Interior, in so far as the granting of oil and gas privileges was concerned. The lease in question is on a departmental form, and was clearly intended as a departmental lease. But it appears that Pah-ke-tah, to whom the land was originaly allotted, was a Kickapoo Indian, nonresident, being a resident of the Republic of Mexico. The land was allotted under the general allotment Act of 1887, relating to Indians; other than the Five Civilized Tribes, which provided that Ihe lands were to be held in trust by the United States for a period of 25 years and for such longer period as the restrictions might be extended by the President. But by the Act of Congress of June 21, 1906, it was provided that all restrictions, as to sale *70 and incumbrance of all lands, inherited or otherwise, of all adult Kickafloo Indians, then or thereafter nonresidents of the United States, who had been allotted land in Oklahoma or Indian Territory, were removed, and it was further provided that any such nonresident Indian allottee might lease his allotment without restriction for a period not to exceed five years. In 1924, when the oil and gas lease was given Mah-ke-se-ah, Pum-y-tum-moke and Mah-ta-pene, the heirs at law of Pah-ko-tah were all adult nonresident Kickapoo Indians. So that upon the death of Pah-ko-tah, the land in question descended to his said heirs free from, any restrictions, with full power to sell and convey. Such was the construction of the act in Johnson v. United States, 283 Fed. 954, decided in 1922. Notwithstanding this construction, the Department seems to have continued to treat such lands as restricted, and under these circumstances the lease in question seems to have been made.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1929 OK 417, 281 P. 286, 139 Okla. 68, 1929 Okla. LEXIS 223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/riddle-v-ellis-okla-1929.