Case library · Whose Fish Are They?
The Line on the Map
Hardin v. Jordan (1891)
Charge: Title to a non-navigable lakebedCourt: U.S. Supreme CourtState: IllinoisDocket: Whose Fish Are They?
Does a land patent bounded by a shallow, non-navigable lake carry title out to the center of the bed?
The facts
A government survey in the 1830s traced a line around the edge of a shallow lake two or three miles across, too shallow for anything but skiffs. Sections fronting the water were patented in 1841 and bounded by the lake. Forty years later the government issued fresh patents covering the lake bottom itself in front of those same sections. Each set of owners claimed the bed and the fishing over it.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: Hardin v. Jordan, 140 U.S. 371 (1891)
Read more at supreme.justia.com. The source reveals the outcome.