- A BRIEF HISTORY OF TEXAS MINERAL RIGHTS.
- Texas State Historical Association: Mineral Rights and Royalties.
Private title to all land in Texas emanates from a grant by the sovereign of the soil (successively, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, and the state of Texas). Under the laws of Spain and Mexico, mines and their metals or minerals did not pass by the ordinary grant of the land without express words of designation. In one of the earliest acts of the Congress of the Republic of Texas, this rule was adopted, and it was continued in force after Texas had become a state. A grantee of land before 1866 therefore had no interest in the minerals in the land unless that interest was expressly granted. By a provision of the state Constitution of 1866, which was carried over in substantially the same language into the constitutions of 1869 and 1876, the state released to the owner of the soil all mines and mineral substances therein. This constitutional provision had retrospective effect; the landowner was given complete ownership of the minerals in all lands that passed from the sovereign before the effective date of the Constitution of 1876. A similar relinquishment to the landowner of the sovereign's retained interest in minerals was made in the revision of the Texas Civil Statutes in 1895, though it has not been litigated in the courts. Since 1876, it has been assumed that a grantee of land from the sovereign has received all minerals unless they are expressly reserved. Since 1895 substantial acreage of the public domain has been conveyed by the sovereign with a retention of rights to the minerals. Under the Relinquishment Act of 1919, as subsequently amended, the surface owner is made the agent of the state for the leasing of such lands, and both the surface owner and the state receive a fractional interest in the proceeds of the leasing and production of minerals. A considerable portion of the land of the state has been allocated to various educational and eleemosynary institutions, some of which has not been sold but merely leased for mineral development.
- 1866 Texas Constitution.
Article 7, SEC. 39. That the State of Texas hereby releases to the owner of the soil all mines and mineral substances, that may be on the same, subject to such uniform rate of taxation, as the Legislature may impose. All islands along the Gulf coast of the State, not now patented, or appropriated by locations under valid fund certificates, are reserved from location or appropriated (appropriation) in any other manner by private individuals than as the Legislature may direct.
- Texas Mineral Rights Law.
- Exploration & Surface Ownership.
- Report of the Unclaimed Mineral Proceeds Commission.
The 1866 Amendment to the Texas Constitution released all mines and minerals previously claimed or owned by the State to the owner of the soil, subject to taxation, and reserved to the State Coastal lands not in the hands of other individuals or entities, unless the Legislature might direct. Debate ensued over the question of the “retrospective” nature of the 1866 Amendment, that is, whether the owners of land granted by the successive sovereigns (Spain, Mexico, Republic of Texas and the State of Texas) before the adoption of the amendment would be given complete ownership of the minerals on their land. Relying upon the definition of “retrospective” in the case of Cox v. Robison (Tex. Sup. Crt, 1912) and Cowan v. Hardeman (26 Tex. 217: Tex. 1862): 12
The Commission finds: There is no authority that the 1866 Amendment released minerals to all previous owners of the soil or to anyone other than the owner of the soil as of the date of the 1866 Amendment. Further, the result is that the State of Texas can enact laws that reserve minerals from any conveyance of public lands, provided nothing will impair vested rights from the reservation.
