McSweyn v. Musselshell County, Montana

Musselshell County (defendant) sold property to A.D. Shields while reserving a 2.5-percent mineral interest, but the deed it actually delivered described the reservation as a 2.5-percent royalty interest instead. The County later leased its reserved interest to McSweyn (plaintiff), a lease valid only if the interest were truly a mineral interest, and McSweyn sought a declaratory judgment on the point. The district court, without addressing which type was more valuable, simply assumed a mineral interest is worth more than a royalty interest and concluded the deed's downgrade to a royalty interest was an unconstitutional gift to Shields, making the County's original mineral-interest reservation, and thus McSweyn's lease, valid; the County appealed.