made upon surveyed lands, it is held that the posting of a notice upon the claim stating that the "N. E. 14 of section 32" has been located as a placer claim was a sufficient marking to satisfy the requirement of the statute.28 This decision is based upon the theory that the boundaries of this tract are already marked by the public land survey, and that a subsequent prospector could easily trace the boundaries thereby.29 It has been criticized on the ground that it is not in harmony with the spirit of the mining laws.30 Where locations are made upon unsurveyed lands, the boundaries must be marked. Where an association of persons locate a tract of 160 acres, the external boundaries only need be marked.31 In some states there are additional requirements for the marking of boundaries of placer claims.32 28 Kern Oil Co. V. Crawford (1904) 143 Cal. 298, 76 P. 1111, 3 L. R. A. (N. S.) 993; McKinley Creek Mining Co. v. Alaska United Mining Co. (1902) 183 U. S. 563, 22 S. Ct. 84, 46 L. Ed. 331. 29 Plaintiff's grantors entered on a quarter section of land, with intent to locate a placer mining claim. They posted notice on the land, claiming such quarter section, and, after due preliminary steps, caused survey to be made, and set up stakes at the supposed corners, marked "N. E. corner section 32," and "S. E. corner section 32," and set laths between them to mark the line. These stakes were in reality some distance west of the true line. On the strip between the true line and that marked by plaintiff's grantors, defendant afterwards entered. Held, that the notice and stakes posted by plaintiff's grantors were sufficient to notify defendant that plaintiff's claim extended to the whole quarter section, so that she acquired no title to the strip erroneously omitted from the boundaries. Kern Oil Co. v. Crawford (1903) 143 Cal. 298, 76 P. 1111, 3 L. R. A. (N. S.) 993. Rev. St. U. S. § 2324 (U. S. Comp. St. § 4620; 30 U. S. C. A. § 28), providing that location of a mining claim must be distinctly marked on the ground, is complied with; the notice of location posted and recorded describing the claim as a certain quarter section, the land having already been surveyed by the government, a government monument being in place at one corner, and the lines being run, and stakes set at the corners, by the locator's surveyTemescal Oil Mining & Development Co. v. Salcido (1902) 137 Cal. 211, 69 P. 1010. or. 30 Costigan, Mining Law (1908) § 72; Worthen v. Sidway (1904) 72 Ark. 215, 79 S. W. 777. 31 Miller v. Chrisman (1903) 140 Cal. 440, 73 P. 1083, 74 P. 444, 98 Am. St. Rep. 63. 32 Costigan, Mining Law (1908) § 72. Although the federal statutes do not require the recording of a certificate of location of a mining claim, they provide that states or territories may make such requirements and that all records must contain "the name or names of the locators, the date of the location, and such a description of the claim or claims located by reference to some natural object or permanent monument as will identify the claim." 33 A record is required in some states, but not in others.34 The location notice and the recorded certificate are not the same instruments, nor is the posting of the notice to be confused with the recording of the certificate,35 but in most states requiring a record the contents of the two instruments are substantially the same.36 The certificate should be filed for record in the office of the county recorded within 30 to 90 days from the date of the location.37 33 Rev. St. U. S. § 2324 (U. S. Comp. St. § 4620; 30 U. S. C. A. § 28). A recorded notice of location of a mining claim, requiring by rules of the mining district, referred to subdivisions of a United States survey for the boundaries of the claim. It was shown that a surveyor had been deputized to make this survey, and that he returned field notes and a map to the land office, which map was approved by the land department; but that the commissioner, on information tending to show that the survey was not made in the field, suspended this approval, and ordered an investigation. Held, that the notice was sufficient, for the map may be referred to for a description of the claim, whatever may be the ultimate fate of the survey. Gird v. California Oil Co. (C. C. 1894) 60 F. 531. 34 Costigan, Mining Law (1908) § 74; 18 R. C. L. p. 1141; 40 C. J. p. 802. 35 Gird v. California Oil Co. (C. C. 1894) 60 F. 531; Sanders v. Noble (1899) 22 Mont. 110, 55 P. 1037. 36 Costigan, Mining Law (1908) § 74. Rev. St. § 2324 (Comp. St. § 4620; 30 U. S. C. A. § 28), and the rules of a mining district passed thereunder, required one desiring to locate a mining claim to post thereon a notice of his location, attested by a claim owner within the district, and to have such notice recorded so as to show the name of the locator, date of location, and a description of the claim by reference to some natural object or permanent monument, sufficient to identify it. Held, that it was not necessary that the record of the claim should be an exact and literal copy of the notice posted on it. Gird v. California Oil Co. (C. C. 1894) 60 F. 531. 37 Costigan, Mining Law (1908) § 57. § 252. Annual labor The federal statute in reference to the location of lodes provides that after the location and discovery and before the issuance of a patent, the locator shall annually perform labor or make improvements on the claim of the value of one hundred dollars.38 In several decisions this provision was held to be applicable to placer claims.39 Congress recognized annual labor as a requirement of oil placer claims by an act passed in 1903,40 which permits the annual labor or improvement on not more than 38 Rev. St. U. S. § 2324 (U. S. Comp. St. § 4620; 30 U. S. C. A. § 28). In Lindley on Mines (1914) § 625, it is urged that section 2329 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (U. S. Comp. St. § 4628; 30 U. S. C. A. § 35), providing that placer claims "shall be subject to entry and patent, under like circumstances and conditions, and upon similar proceedings, as are provided for vein or lode claims" expresses an intent on the part of Congress that the annual labor requirement should be applicable to lode claims. In Costigan on Mining Law (1908) § 78, the view is expressed that such statute meant no more than that a locator should spend five hundred dollars in labor and improvement of his claim before receiving a patent. 39 Carney v. Arizona G. M. Co. (1884) 65 Cal. 40, 2 P. 734; Sweet v. Webber (1884) 7 Colo. 443, 4 P. 752; McDonald v. Montana Wood Co. (1894) 14 Mont. 88, 35 P. 668, 43 Am. St. Rep. 616; Smith v. Union Oil Co. (1913) 166 Cal. 217, 135 P. 966; Union Oil Co. v. Smith (1919) 249 U. S. 337, 39 S. Ct. 308, 63 L. Ed. 635. Rev. St. § 2324 (Comp. St. § 4620; 30 U. S. C. A. § 28), provides that on all placer mining claims located after a given date, and until a patent has been issued, "not less than $100 worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during each year; but where such claims are held in common, such expenditure may be made upon any one claim." Held, that the work required must have been done with a view to prospect or develop the claim; and, in order that work done on one may inure to the benefit of another, held in common with it, the claims must be contiguous. Gird v. California Oil Co. (C. C. 1894) 60 F. 531. Until an actual discovery of mineral is made upon a claim, the location is not perfected, and annual assessment work is not necessary. Borgwardt v. McKittrick Oil Co. (1913) 164 Cal. 650, 130 P. 417. Title to oil lands in the public domain may be acquired, under the statutes relating to placer mining locations (Rev. St. § 2329 et seq.; Comp. St. § 4628 et seq.), by filing a location certificate and performing the required annual assessment work, conditions requisite to later issue of patent. Richardson v. Western Oil, Coal & Investment Co. (C. C. A. 1924) 3 F. (2d) 403. 40 U. S. Comp. St. § 4636; 30 U. S. C. A. § 102. five contiguous oil placer claims owned by the same person or corporation to be done on any one of the group, if such labor "will tend to the development or to determine the oil-bearing character of such contiguous claims." 41 Special acts of Congress excused the performance of annual labor by persons in the military service of the United States. during the Spanish-American and World Wars, and during the business depression in 1893 and 1894.42 § 253. Abandonment and forfeiture The interest required by the valid location of mineral lands may be lost by abandonment or forfeiture. Abandonment is a matter of intention and a question of fact for a jury under the circumstances of the particular situation. A claim may be abandoned although the annual labor has been performed. Forfeiture, on the other hand, does not involve a question of intention, but depends upon whether or not the locator has performed the annual labor necessary to hold or perpetuate his claim. To complete a forfeiture there must be an entry by a third person. If a claim has been abandoned or forfeited, it may be relocated by third persons or the original locator.43 41 The term "assessment labor," in Act Feb. 12, 1903 (Comp. St. § 4636; 30 U. S. C. A. § 102), providing that such labor on oil claims may be done on one of a group of contiguous claims refers to the annual labor required of the locator of a mineral claim after discovery by Rev. St. § 2324 (Comp. St. § 4620; 30 U. S. C. A. § 28), and not to work before discovery. Union Oil Co. of California v. Smith (1919) 249 U. S. 337, 39 S. Ct. 308, 63 L. Ed. 635, affirming judgment Smith v. Union Oil Co. (1913) 166 Cal. 217, 135 P. 966. 42 Act July 2, 1898, c. 563, § 1, 30 Stat. 651; Act March 8, 1918, 40 Stat. 440 (U. S. Comp. St. §§ 30784a-30784 ss); Act Nov. 3, 1893, c. 12, 28 Stat. 6; Act July 18, 1894, c. 142, 28 Stat. 114. 43 On the subject of abandonment and forfeiture and relocation of mining claims, the reader should consult Costigan on Mining Law (1908) chap. 17; Lindley on Mines (3d Ed. 1914) chap. 6; 40 C. J. p. 849 ff.; United States v. California Midway Oil Co. (D. C. 1919) 259 F. 343. In an action involving the right to mining land, evidence held not to establish a voluntary abandonment by defendant of its location. Borgwardt v. McKittrick Oil Co. (1913) 164 Cal. 650, 130 P. 417. One who, after discovery of mineral on a claim as required by Rev. St. § 2320 (Comp. St. § 4615; 30 U. S. C. A. § 23), locates the claim in § 254. Patent A person, association or corporation qualified to make a valid location of an oil placer claim on public mining lands, who has satisfied the statutory requirements relative to location, discovery and improvement, may obtain a patent therefor by compliance with the statutory procedure to obtain it. This procedure is set out in the statutes 44 and explained in detail by regulations issued by the land department.45 accordance with section 2324 (section 4620; 30 U. S. C. A. § 28), has, under section 2322 (section 4618; 30 U. S. C. A. § 26), a possessory right, capable of transfer and independent of continuous possession, which can be forfeited only by failure to do the annual work required by section 2324. Union Oil Co. of California v. Smith (1919) 249 U. S. 337, 39 S. Ct. 308, 63 L. Ed. 635, affirming judgment Smith v. Union Oil Co. (1913) 166 Cal. 217, 135 P. 966. In a proceeding to forfeit locations on mineral land withdrawn from appropriation, evidence held to show performance of labor and making of improvements sufficient, within Act June 25, 1910, c. 421, § 2, as amended by Act Aug. 24, 1912, c. 369 (Comp. St. § 4524; 43 U. S. C. A. § 142), to hold claim. United States v. Ohio Oil Co. (D. C. 1916) 240 F. 996. 44 Rev. St. U. S. § 2325 (U. S. Comp. St. § 4622), sets forth the procedure by which a patent of a lode claim may be obtained as follows: "A patent for any land I claimed and located for valuable deposits may be obtained in the following manner: Any person, association, or corporation authorized to locate a claim under this chapter, having claimed and located a piece of land for such purposes, who has, or have, complied with the terms of this chapter, may file in the proper land office an application for a patent, under oath, showing such compliance, together with a plat and field notes of the claim or claims in common, made by or under the direction of the United States surveyor general, showing accurately the boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy of such plat, together with a notice of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the land embraced in such plat previous to the filing of the application for a patent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that such notice has been duly posted, and shall file a copy of the notice in such land office, and shall thereupon be entitled to a patent for the land, in the manner following: The register of the land office, upon the filing of such application, plat, filed notes, notices, and affidavits, shall publish a notice that such application has been made, for the period of 45 See Regulations of the Land Department in 49 L. D. 58. |