Upon the facts above stated, the supreme court held: First, that the statute of limitations did not begin to run against the mining claim until the patent had been issued, following in this particular King v. Thomas, 6 Mont. 409, 12 Pac. 865; and, second, that the matters alleged as an estoppel having taken place before the time the plaintiffs made their application for a patent, and notice of such application having been given, that all adverse claimants were given an opportunity of contesting the applicant's right to a patent, and that, the patent having been issued, it was too late to base a defense upon facts existing prior thereto, citing in support of its position a prior ruling of the court in Talbott v. King, 6 Mont. 76, 9 Pac. 434.
Neither of these defenses presents a federal question. Defendants asserted no right under a federal statute; made no claim under any federal patent; claimed solely under a statute of limitations, which the highest court of the state declared did not protect them; and certain matters of alleged estoppel in pais, which the court held to constitute no defense.
The writ of error must, therefore, be dismissed.
Notes edit
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).
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