In the case of United States v. Tennessee and Coosa Railroad Company, 1899, the U.S. Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a railroad company could be held liable for damages caused by its construction activities on public lands. The government argued that the company had unlawfully removed soil from public land to construct an embankment for their railway line without obtaining necessary permissions or paying compensation for it. The court ruled in favor of the government stating that even though railroads were granted certain rights-of-way through public lands under federal law, these did not include permission to remove soil or other materials without proper authorization or payment. Therefore, any such removal constituted trespassing and made them liable for damages.

The dissenting opinion in the case of United States v. Tennessee and Coosa Railroad Company argued that the government did not have a valid claim to land granted to railroad companies for construction purposes once those lands had been sold by said companies. The justice contended that, as per previous rulings, such grants were meant to be incentives for railroads' construction and thus became absolute upon completion of the tracks. Therefore, any subsequent sale or disposal was within their rights without further obligation towards the government. Furthermore, they disagreed with majority's interpretation of "mineral lands" exception clause in grant act arguing it should only apply if minerals were known at time of grant; otherwise it would create uncertainty and discourage future investments in railway infrastructure development.