The U.S. Supreme Court case Payne, Secretary of the Interior, et al. v. Central Pacific Railway Company in 1920 revolved around a dispute over land rights between the United States government and the Central Pacific Railway Company (CPR). The CPR claimed ownership of certain lands under an Act passed by Congress in 1862 to aid in building a railroad and telegraph line from Missouri River to California's Pacific coast. However, these claims were disputed by settlers who had been living on those lands since before they were surveyed for railway purposes. The court ruled against CPR stating that their claim was invalid as it did not comply with conditions set out in the Act of 1862 which required them to file maps showing definite location within two years after completion of any section twenty miles long outside California; failure to do so would result in forfeiture of right granted by said act for such additional sections until compliance is made. This ruling established that railroads could not simply claim vast tracts of public land without meeting specific requirements laid down by law - thus protecting settler’s rights and preventing monopolization or misuse of public resources.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Payne, Secretary of the Interior, et al. v. Central Pacific Railway Company argued that the majority's decision was a departure from established legal principles and precedent regarding land grants to railway companies. The dissenters believed that under previous rulings, when Congress granted lands to railroad companies for construction purposes, it did so with an implied condition that any unearned or unused lands would revert back to government ownership if not used within a specified period. In this case, they felt that Central Pacific had failed to fulfill its obligations within the stipulated time frame and therefore should forfeit its claim on these lands. They also disagreed with the majority's interpretation of certain legislative acts related to this issue as well as their application of estoppel against government claims in such cases.