## Facts

- Monroe sued in ejectment in 1949 to recover possession of a wild, largely undeveloped section of land in Kalkaska County, claiming record title traced back to a government patent.
- The land was not suitable for farming or crops; it was suitable for hunting, fishing, recreation, and at times had pulpwood value.
- Defendants began using the land in 1926 by building a hunting cabin and regularly using the premises for hunting and fishing.
- In 1928, defendants purchased and recorded a tax deed for the entire section based on 1924 taxes and attempted statutory notice to redeem in 1929; Monroe challenged the adequacy of service.
- Defendants paid property taxes from 1924 through trial in 1949, except for 1945 (paid by an unknown person).
- After the first cabin was destroyed, defendants built a new cabin in 1933 on a cement foundation, painted it, cleared brush, planted grass, and erected a sign at a crossroads identifying the camp.
- Defendants used the cabin and land every year for hunting, fishing, and vacations; a guest register showed use on average about six times per year from 1934 to 1949, including every hunting season.
- In 1939, defendants sold pulpwood from the entire section; logging and removal continued for about five years, with temporary camps on the land visible from the road.
- Monroe did not make actual use of the land during the relevant period and did not dislodge defendants’ occupation before filing suit.

## Issues

1. Whether defendants’ acts on wild recreational land were sufficient to establish actual, open and notorious, exclusive, continuous, and hostile possession for the statutory period.
2. If adverse possession was established, whether affirmance was required without reaching defendants’ tax-deed and statute-of-limitations defenses.

## Decision

- The Michigan Supreme Court affirmed judgment for defendants.
- The Court held defendants acquired title by adverse possession.
- Because adverse possession was dispositive, the Court did not decide the validity of the tax deed or whether the action was time-barred.

## Legal Principles

- Adverse possession requires actual, open and notorious (visible), exclusive, continuous, and hostile possession for the statutory period.
- What constitutes “actual” and “open and notorious” possession depends on the character of the land; for wild or nonagricultural land, acts consistent with the land’s suitable uses can suffice.
- Building and maintaining a permanent cabin, clearing and improving the immediate area, posting identifying signage, repeated seasonal recreational use, paying taxes, and exercising dominion through timber sale and removal can collectively provide notice of an adverse claim and satisfy continuity when consistent with the land’s nature.

## Conclusion

Defendants’ long-term, visible dominion over wild recreational land—marked by permanent improvements, recurring seasonal occupation, tax payments, and timber exploitation—was sufficient to establish adverse possession, defeating the record-title owner’s ejectment claim.


Monroe v. Rawlings, 49 N.W.2d 55 (Mich. 1951)