Gwillim v. Donnellan’s Empirical Analysis
115 U.S. 45 · 1885
Citation profile
22 federal appellate · 21 district · 73 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 176 later decisions (13 by the Supreme Court) — most recently April 2014 · most notably Donnelly v. United States (1913), United States v. Midwest Oil Co. (1915)
22 federal appellate · 21 district · 73 state decisions — followed in 13 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Belk v. Meagher
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 176 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““Must be one which entitles him to possession against the United States, as well as against another claimant. If it is not valid as against the one, it is not as against the other. The location is the plaintiff’s title. If good, he can recover. If bad, he must be defeated. A location on account of the discovery of a vein or lode can only be made by a discoverer, or one who claims under him. The discovered lode must lie within the limits of the location- which is made by reason of it. If the title to the discovery fails, so must the location which rests upon it.””
4 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““If, when one enters on land to make a location, there is another location in full force, which entitles its owner to the exclusive possession of the land, the first location operates as a bar to the second. Belk v. Meagher, 104 U. S. 279 , 284, 26 L. Ed. 735 .””
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority““Thomas made his location as the discoverer of a vein or lode within the lines of his claim. He' made but one location, and that for 1,500 feet in length along the discovered vein. All his labor was done at the discovery shaft. There was no claim of a second discovery at any other place than where the shaft was sunk.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Cascaden v. Bortolis
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.