At the 1916 fall term of the district court of Garden county, Nebraska, Judge Hobart held that the range line between ranges 40 and 41 is the boundary between Arthur and Garden counties and dismissed Arthur county's petition.

Arthur county appealed the case to the supreme court of the state. Which court affirmed the decision of Judge Hobart and in the opinion filed November 17, 1916, and reported in the 100 Nebraska, page 324, decided the range line between ranges 40 and 41 to be the county boundary. Thus, the little "No Man's Land" which had been in dispute for fifty years, became permanently a part of Garden county.

While this suit was pending. Grant county prevailed upon the attorney general of the state to file original suit in the supreme court on behalf of Grant county to oust Garden county and its officers from control of and authority over the disputed strip as between Grant and Garden counties. This was the strip about two and one fourth miles wide lying between the west line of range 40 and the 25th degree of longitude in townships 21, 22 and 23 north.

The issue, were practically the same a- in

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

the Arthur-Garden county case. Grant county filed a demurrer to Garden county's answer on the ground that said answer did not contain facts sufficient to constitute a defense to the complaint. Upon hearing thereon the demurer was overruled and William Mitchell of Alliance was appointed as referee to take the evidence and report findings of fact and conclusions of law to the court. After taking the evidence at Hyannis and Oshkosh and cogitating thereon for six months, the referee found that the 25th degree of longitude was and is the boundary line between Grant and Garden counties ; that Garden county should be ousted from the territory east of the 25th degree, and recommended that the boundary line be placed about three quarters of a mile west of the 25th degree at the middle of range 41.