Plaintiff in error-the Oil Company-instituted this action July 1, 1910, in the district court, Caddo parish, Louisiana, for the purpose of establishing its right to possession of part of lot No. 1, section 4, township 20, north, range 16, west, suddenly become very valuable through discovery of gas and oil. The petition alleges that the United States in 1874 sold to one Pitts lots 1 and 2, section 4, forming a projection known as 'Wilson's Point,' surrounded on three sides by waters of James bayou, a navigable stream; that he immediately entered, and, together with his successors, remained in peaceful, complete possession until April 2, 1910, when defendants in error, without knowledge of Noel, then owner, wrongfully entered upon part of lot No. 1, built a wire fence and placed a keeper thereon; that April 15, 1910, by notarial act duly recorded, the Oil Company purchased both lots from Noel and became subrogated to his rights; and when it came to subject the whole property to actual possession a portion was found occupied as above indicated.
A writ of sequestration, issued contemporaneously with filing of petition, was subsequently dissolved upon motion, a proper bond having been given, conditioned not to commit waste, and to make faithful restitution of fruits if so required.
Answering, defendants in error denied they were occupying any part of lot No. 1, section 4, but said they were and had been since April 2, 1910, in possession of 87.9 acres situated in sections 3 and 4, township 20, described by metes and bounds, 'which said property your respondents located under the laws of the United States relative to the location of mining lands and upon which they have made a discovery of oil and gas, and are, therefore, entitled to the full use and enjoyment and to a patent from the United States.' They also denied the Oil Company or any of 'its ancestors in title ever had or claimed possession of any part of the property so located by your respondents; but, that, on the contrary, your respondents aver that the said land was never in the possession of any person until the location by them.' Further answering they averred that 'Thomas H. Pitts purchased from the United States, among other property, lot 1 of section 4, township 20 north of range 16 west, containing 12.84 acres, and that he paid for the same with military land warrants, as containing that acreage; that the said lot 1 of section 4 is figured and described on the surveys of the United States by certain metes and bounds, shown on the said plat, the eastern boundary of said lot, as well as the other boundaries thereof, being shown on the said map; that the east line of said lot, which is the boundary between the land of respondents and that of plaintiff, did not and does not denote the banks of any body of water, but that, on the contrary, the said line was run through the hills as the line of boundary of the said lot; that the land of which your respondents are in possession, and which they located under their mineral filing aforesaid, is high land, not subject to overflow at any time, and which never constituted any part of any lake or bayou, and was left out of the surveys of the United States, and which remained the property of the government until said location had been made thereon by your respondents.'
There were introduced in evidence patents from the government, field notes and attending documents, official plat, sundry conveyances, contour maps,-one prepared by Williams for plaintiff company, another by Barnes for defendants,-Barbour's survey of sections 9, 10, 15, and 16, and photographs showing landscape and vegetation. Witnesses were examined in behalf of both sides chiefly in explanation of lines, maps, water levels, character of land and growth thereon. A draft of the official plat (5/6 original size) is in the margin; on the following page is a copy of the combination map (much reduced) showing the Bristol, Williams, Barnes, and Barbour surveys especially referred to by Louisiana supreme court. At the trial the following stipulation was made part of the record: