State v. Hess

In 1898, the Walkers and Joyces conveyed a rail corridor to a railway company, with the deed stating the conveyance was valid "so long as" the land was used for railway purposes and would terminate if used otherwise. After the railroad ceased operating the line in 1985, its successor conveyed the corridor to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) (plaintiff), which turned it into a public state trail. Landowners Hess and the Sandbergs (defendants), whose properties abutted the trail, began blocking off portions where the trail met their land, and the DNR sued to quiet title, with the trial court finding a fee simple determinable that the Marketable Title Act had converted to a fee simple absolute in the DNR's favor; the court of appeals reversed, finding only an easement had been granted.