Tulsledo Oil Co. v. State ex rel. Commissioners of the Land Office

1963 OK 233, 386 P.2d 161, 19 Oil & Gas Rep. 809, 1963 Okla. LEXIS 505
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 22, 1963
DocketNo. 40198
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1963 OK 233 (Tulsledo Oil Co. v. State ex rel. Commissioners of the Land Office) 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
Tulsledo Oil Co. v. State ex rel. Commissioners of the Land Office, 1963 OK 233, 386 P.2d 161, 19 Oil & Gas Rep. 809, 1963 Okla. LEXIS 505 (Okla. 1963).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, Justice.

Defendant in error, the State of Oklahoma, ex rel, the Commissioners of the Land Office of said State, hereinafter referred to as Commissioners, brought the action from which this appeal arises. The State seeks to quiet its asserted fee simple title to the Sj/⅞, Sec. 13, Twp. 25 N., R. 26 W., I. B. M., Harper County, as against certain adverse claims of plaintiff in error, hereinafter referred to as Tulsledo. In its brief, Tulsledo states that “In view of the recent mandate in Horany v. State, Okl., 375 P.2d 963, defendant has abandoned its appeal as to the Southwest Quarter (SW4) only.”

In the trial court the parties stipulated that “the land was granted to the State”; that the Commissioners executed a certificate of purchase covering such land here involved to T. J. Hopingardner and his wife; that the Hopingardners made a mineral deed to Shirley L. Clum; that Clum executed a mineral deed to Tulsledo; that such mineral deeds were filed in the office of the County Clerk of Harper County, but were not filed in the office of the Commissioners; that no consideration was paid to the Commissioners by Clum or Tulsledo for their deeds; that “thereafter the certificate of purchase was relinquished from Hopingardner to Mr. Cornell”; that “the annual payments on the purchase price for the years 1933, 1934 and 1935 were not paid”; that Cornell died on October 20, 1934, and his only heir was Stella Cornell.

After the above recited stipulations were presented to the trial court, the Commissioners placed in evidence a deed from Stella Cornell Pryor and her husband to the State of Oklahoma, quit-claiming all their right, title and interest in the Sj/⅞ of Section 13.

The evidence of Tulsledo was to the effect that there were no proceedings to cancel the certificate of purchase as to the SEJ4! and that at the time the Pryors executed the quit-claim deed in favor of the State, the Commissioners had actual knowledge of Tulsledo’s mineral interest.

We do not determine in this opinion whether there were proceedings cancelling the certificate of purchase as to the SEi/j. for the reason that the sole heir of the certificate holder executed a quit-claim deed, covering such land, to the Commissioners prior to the filing of the instant action.

For reversal Tulsledo presents two propositions. The first is:

“The grantee of a mineral deed from a certificate of purchase holder who records the deed in the County Clerk’s Office but not with the Commissioners of the Land Office, acquires an interest which cannot be foreclosed in the absence of proceedings to cancel the certificate of purchase.”

[163]*163Tulsledo contends that:

“The attempt to establish the Land Office as a bona fide purchaser fails on two grounds. First, the mineral deed was recorded with the County Clerk of Harper County which gives constructive notice to all purchasers. 16 O.S.1961, Sec. 16. The statute relating to cancellation of Certificates of Purchase (64 O.S.1961, Sec. 191) has application only to cancellation proceedings and their effect, and is wholly irrelevant where, as here, there are no proceedings.”

Title 64 O.S.1961, § 191, provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

“Any purchaser of lands under the provisions of this act shall have the right to transfer or assign all his rights, title and interest in and to such lands, and such assignments shall be in form and executed and acknowledged as required under the laws governing conveyances; provided, before delivery of patent, stick assignment, to be valid, shall be duly recorded in a proper book, kept for that purpose by the Commissioners of the Land Office (Emphasis supplied)

In the case of Equitable Royalty Corporation v. State, Okl., 352 P.2d 365, 369, 370 and 371, we said:

“ * * * jn our 0pjni0n ⅛ was clearly within the province and power of the Legislature to make the filing of instruments, evidencing the interest of those to whom a certificate holder sold or assigned in the office of the Commissioners a condition precedent to asserting adverse rights against the State, to lands covered by the assignment or grant, and for reasons hereinafter given we are of the further opinion such is the object and purpose of Sec. 191, supra. In brief, it was within the province and power of the Legislature to say that the provisions of said statute, as to the Commissioners and not those of the general recording statutes, should govern in cases such as the instant case. If Sec. 191 is a special recording statute that governs in instances such as are presented by this appeal, and we believe that such is the case, compliance with Sec. 191 is mandatory. * * *
“We again allude to Sec. 191, supra, wherein it is stated that an ‘assignment (from a certificate holder) to be valid, shall be duly recorded in a proper book, kept for that purpose by the Commissioners.’ Is this language meaningless? We believe not. * * *
“The certificate of purchase issued to Wycoff reads in part as follows:
“ ‘Seventh: That said purchaser shall have the right to transfer or assign all his right, title and interest in and to said land and improvements, but no transfer or assignment thereof shall be valid or of any force or effect unless made in conformity with the Rules and Regulations of the Commissioners of the Land Office of said State and recorded in the office of said Commissioners in the Capital of said State.’
******
“The defendants are charged with knowledge of the relevant provisions of tire applicable statutes and are also charged with notice of the provisions of the Certificate of Purchase. The third paragraph of the syllabus to Nix v. Brogan, 118 Okl. 62, 251 P. 753, reads as follows:
“ ‘The general rule is that the law will impute notice and knowledge to a party of the conditions of instruments under which he holds or claims title.’
See also 66 C.J.S. Notice § 13d, p. 651. The defendants are therefore charged with notice of the above quoted seventh paragraph of the Certificate to the effect that assignments from the certificate-holder were without ‘force or effect unless * * * recorded in the office of said Commissioners.’ ”

[164]*164Since the conveyance to Tulsledo was not recorded with the Commissioners, as hereinbefore shown, the quit-claim deed from Mrs. Pryor and husband divested Tulsledo of any interest in such land.

Tulsledo further contends that the Commissioners “had actual knowledge of Tuls-ledo’s mineral interest prior to taking the quit-claim deed and therefore could not have been a bona fide purchaser without notice as to such mineral interests.”

In the case of Horany v. State, supra, 375 P.2d at p. 966, we said:

“In Stevens v. Patten et al., 174 Okl. 582, 50 P.2d 1106, it was pointed out that 'A sale of state school land by the commissioners of the land office on deferred payments, evidenced by note and certificate of sale, conveys the equitable title thereto to the purchaser and leaves the legal title in the state. * * *’ It follows that Mr. Leist’s and those claiming under him, title was an ‘equitable title’ and ‘legal title’ remained in the State until such time as the provisions of the certificate of purchase and applicable statutes were complied with.

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Bluebook (online)
1963 OK 233, 386 P.2d 161, 19 Oil & Gas Rep. 809, 1963 Okla. LEXIS 505, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tulsledo-oil-co-v-state-ex-rel-commissioners-of-the-land-office-okla-1963.