In the case of Creede and Cripple Creek Mining and Milling Company v. Uinta Tunnel Mining and Transportation Company in 1904, the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a mining company that had been granted a patent for land by the U.S. government could prevent another company from tunneling under its property to access minerals on adjacent lands. The court ruled in favor of Creede and Cripple Creek Mining, stating that when an entity is granted a patent for land by the federal government, it includes exclusive rights not only to surface resources but also those beneath up until great depths as long as they are within their vertical boundaries extending downward. Therefore, Uinta Tunnel Mining's actions were deemed unlawful because they infringed upon these subsurface rights without consent or compensation.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Creede and Cripple Creek Mining and Milling Company v. Uinta Tunnel Mining and Transportation Company argued that the majority's decision was incorrect because it failed to properly consider the rights of mining claimants under Colorado law. The dissent believed that, according to state law, a mining claimant has exclusive right to all minerals within their claim lines extending vertically downward. This includes any veins or lodes which may cross these vertical planes below surface level, regardless if they originate outside those boundaries. Therefore, when Uinta Tunnel Mining extracted ore from a vein crossing into Creede’s property underground but originating outside its boundaries above ground, it infringed upon Creede's rights as per Colorado laws on mineral ownership within defined claims. The dissent also criticized the majority for not adequately considering this aspect of state law in their ruling.