William O. Douglas

“ But no right arises from an invalid claim of any kind. All must conform to the law under which they are initiated; otherwise they work an unlawful private appropriation in derogation of the rights of the public.
'Of course, the Land Department has no power to strike down any claim arbitrarily, but so long as the legal title remains in the government it does have power, after proper notice and upon adequate hearing, to determine whether the claim is valid and, if it be found invalid, to declare it null and void.' 252 U.S. 450, 459-460, 40 S.Ct. ”

“ We deal here with a unique form of property. A mining claim on public lands is a possessory interest in land that is 'mineral in character' and as respects which discovery 'within the limits of the claim' has been made. ”

“ A locator who does not carry his claim to patent does not lose his mineral claim, though he does take the risk that his claim will no longer support the issuance of a patent. United States v. Houston, 66 L.D. 161, 165. It must be shown before a patent issues that at the time of the application for patent 'the claim is valuable for minerals,' worked-out claims not qualifying. United States v. Logomarcini, 60 L.D. 371, 373.
Respondents' mining claims are unpatented, the title to the lands in controversy still being in the United States. ”