Oklahoma v. Texas
Headline: Red River ruling clarifies riverbed ownership, giving north-bank landowners and Oklahoma rights up to the river’s median line while placing the southern riverbed in United States ownership.
Holding: The Court ordered that north-bank patentees and Indian allottees own the riverbed in front of their lands up to the river’s medial line, that Oklahoma has the same riverfront rights, and that the southern riverbed belongs to the United States.
- Confirms many north-bank landowners own riverbed up to the midline.
- Places all riverbed south of the midline under United States ownership.
- Allows receiver to return tracts without oil wells to owners.
Summary
Background
This supplemental decree settles which people and governments own parts of the Red River bed between the 98th meridian and the mouth of the North Fork. The dispute involved the State of Oklahoma, the State of Texas, the United States as intervener, and many private patentees and Indian allottees. The decree supplements a prior partial decree of June 5, 1922, and was entered March 12, 1923.
Reasoning
The Court limited this order to the river bed and lands on the north side in the specified stretch. It held that private patentees and Indian allottees who hold land on the north bank own the riverbed in front of their tracts up to the medial line (the midpoint between the banks), with one agreed exception that treats the medial line as no farther north than the southerly survey line of certain patented tracts. Where Oklahoma holds lands by U.S. grant, the State has the same riverfront rights as an individual patentee. The Court also declared that the United States holds full title to the portion of the river bed lying south of the medial line. The decree addresses how later patents or allotments that became riparian affect title, confirms that existing islands were not conveyed by patents, and applies these rules to many listed tracts and allottees.
Real world impact
The ruling identifies who may control and use the riverbed in this stretch of the Red River. Many named Indian allottees and private patentees are confirmed to own the riverbed to the midline. The receiver is ordered to give possession back of patented or allotted tracts on the north side that lack oil wells, after which those tracts leave the receivership. The decree applies only to the described reach and the specific tracts listed.
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