The plaintiff in error and the defendants in error were respectively plaintiff and defendant in the court below, and we will so designate them. They were riparian owners 395), and this writ of error was then sued in the state of Michigan, and this suit is to determine the extent of their respective ownerships to the bed of the lake. They all derived title through United States patents, and the controversy is claimed by plaintiff to arise from their construction and effect.
The trial court dismissed plaintiff's bill, and its action was affirmed by the supreme court of the state (118 Mich. 109, 76 N. W. 359), and this writ of error was then sued out.
A motion is made to dismiss for want of jurisdiction in this court, on the ground that no Federal question was raised in the state court, or, if one was raised, the decision of the state court was rested on a question not Federal, which was sufficient to sustain the judgment.
Under the circumstances of this case it will be more orderly to consider the latter ground first, and its proper determination requires a consideration of the opinion of the supreme court, of its statement of facts (which we condense), and of its conclusions from those facts:
'Lake Angeline was situated on sections 10, 11, and 15, township 47 N., range 27 W., and was within the corporate limits of the city of Ishpeming, in Marquette county. It contained 148.61 acres within the government meander lines. It was a mile in length east and west, and 1,690 feet in width on the center line of section 10, which was its widest point.
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'The three parties to this litigation own all the lands surrounding this lake,-the complainant owning that part of section 15 bordering upon the lake; the defendant, Cleveland Iron Mining Company, owning that part of sections 10 and 11 bordering on the lake east of the center line of section 10; and the defendant, Lake Superior Iron Company, owning that part west of said center line. These three mining corporations have owned this land about thirth years, and have been engaged in mining upon their respective properties for more than twenty years. For the sake of brevity, these companies will be designated by their initial letters.'
No ore was known to exist in the bed of the lake until the winter of 1886 and 1887, when it was discovered on territory not owned by plaintiff, but plaintiff was informed of the discovery. Afterwards ore was discovered on its territory. The extent and locality of the ore beds were not exactly known, and negotiations were entered into for pumping out the lake, and ended in a contrace between the parties.
It recited the discovery of the ore and the necessity of pumping out the lake, in order to 'economically mine such ore as lies under such portions of said bed as each of said parties is respectively entitled to.'
It provided for the purchase of a pumping apparatus which one B. C. Howell had, and in consideration of the 'mutual considerations received each from each, the receipt of which is hereby respectively acknowledged.'
The agreement then provided what proportion of the cost of the pumping apparatus and plant should be respectively borne by the parties both for its purchase and maintenance, and the expenses of the work. And it was found by the supreme court that the agreement was formally executed. The acknowledgment by plaintiff recited that it was done by its president and secretary, and also that it was done on behalf of the corporation.
The total cost of draining and keeping water out of the lake until January 1, 1897, was $76,488.38. 'Of this the C. I. M. Co. paid $44,149.68; the L. S. L. Co. $17,147.18; and the complainat $7,601.38. . . . The water under the southeast arm of the lake was comparatively shallow. A vast body of mud was found in the bottom of the lake, and the two defendants incurred an expense, in attmepting to remove it, of $20,227.53.'
'After the execution of this contract, each party worked upon its own property as defined thereby. The complainant mined out all the valuable ore under the southeast arm, and afterwards filled its opening with the waste rock. The L. S. I. Co. made explorations at considerable expense, and the C. I. M. Co. made the five drill holes above referred to from the complainant's mine, and ran a drift through the rock underneath the lake nearly to the sough line of section 10, and, after reaching ore, ran drifts and crosscuts with a view of determining the value of the ore and ascertaining if there was sufficient to open and equip a mine. All this involved large expense.