N. J. Meagher v. Equity Oil Company

CROCKETT, Justice. This litigation is before this court for its fourth engagement, having been here on three prior occasions.
1 These repeat performances are not due to the merit of the controversy nor to the popularity of the subject matter with
this court. They seem rather to stem, to a considerable extent, from an unwillingness of defendants to recognize and perform
their obligations to plaintiffs as adjudicated in prior proceedings. The controversy centers around rights in a lease, referred to as the 'Sheridan lease' in certain oil lands in Uintah County.
The origin and history of this lease are set out in our prior decisions referred to above, and, except to the extent incorporated
herein, do not warrant repetition here. The original bases of the rights of the parties in the Sheridan lease are immaterial
here except to say that the defendant, Paul Stock, and one Ray Phebus were assignees of rights therein; and that in 1944,
for reasons likewise not material here, Stock executed an instrument called a 'Release' of his interest (hereinafter called
the 'Stock half') in the lease to the fee holder, N. J. Meagher, Sr., which in this later phase of the litigation has been
the subject of dispute between the parties. The other one-half interest (referred to as the 'Phebus half') is now owned by
the defendants, Stock, Joe T. Juhan and Weber Oil Company, who derive their interest through Phebus, and which interest is
not in dispute here.