Case Comment by A.N. Yiannopoulos
Phillips Petroleum involved the question of the ownership of inland nonnavigable water bottoms in the State of Mississippi. The state had granted mineral leases over such lands. Private owners, holding title under prestatehood Spanish grants and federal as well as state patents, brought suit to quiet their title. The disputed water bottoms included forty-two acres of land underlying the north branch of Bayou LaCroix, and eleven small drainage streams several miles north of the Gulf Coast. The water bodies had never been navigable. However, they were influenced by the tide because they were adjacent to and tributaries of the Jourdan River, a navigable stream flowing into the Gulf. The Mississippi Supreme Court, affirming a decree of the Chancery Court in favor of the state, held that Mississippi acquired upon its entry into the Union in 1817 the ‘fee simple title to all lands naturally subject to the tidal influence, inland to today's mean high water mark.’ The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and affirmed the judgment of the Mississippi Supreme Court. Thus, the mineral interests of the Cinque Bambini (‘Five Babes') Partnership were lost in the tide of Mississippi law. This Case Comment explores the implications of Phillips Petroleum for Louisiana property law.
About the Author
A.N. Yiannopoulos. W. R. Irby Professor of Law, Tulane Law School. Diploma in Law 1950, University of Thessaloniki; M.C.L. 1954, University of Chicago; J.S.D. 1956, University of California, Berkeley; Dr. Jur. 1960, University of Cologne.
Citation
62 Tul. L. Rev. 1357 (1988)