Oklahoma v. Texas

Background

A dispute involved people who hold federal patents or Indian allotments (federal land grants), the State of Oklahoma, and the United States over who owns parts of the Red River bed. This supplemental decree applies only to the river bed and lands on the north side between the 98th meridian and the mouth of the North Fork and supplements a partial decree entered June 5, 1922.

Reasoning

The Court decided who owns different parts of the riverbed. It held that owners of patented or allotted tracts on the north bank own the riverbed in front of their land up to the river’s medial line. Where the United States granted land to the State, Oklahoma has the same riparian (riverfront) rights an individual would have. The United States retains full title to the riverbed south of the medial line. The decree defines the medial line as midway between the northerly and southerly banks (cut banks), subject to a stipulation that treats the line as no farther north than the southerly line shown on the official survey where it touches patented or allotted tracts. The decree also explains when later patents or allotments carried title to the medial line and states that islands existing at the time of patenting were not conveyed.

Real world impact

The order lists specific patents and many named Indian allotments that include riverbed to the medial line and names intervening claimants. It requires the receiver to surrender possession of patented and allotted tracts north of the medial line that are without oil wells. The result is clearer property boundaries and immediate transfer of possession for many tracts lacking oil wells.