In the Superior Court of the City and County of San Francisco
State of California

Juan M. Luco
Plaintiff

Vs.

Robert S. Baker, Arcadia Baker and California Star Oil Works Company Defendants

COMPLAINT

The plaintiff complains of the above named defendants and for cause of action alleges:

I.
That said California Star Oil Works Company, is a corporation created and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of California, and has its office and principal place of business in the City of and County of San Francisco in said state of California, and has been such corporation since the 7th day of July, 1876.

II.
That on or about the 8th day of August, 1865, Pio Pico, Robert S. Baker, Edward F. Beale, Sanford Lyon, Juan Foster and Francisco P. Foster, discovered, located and claimed for mining purposes, a certain tract of land of about one hundred and sixty acres, yielding petroleum or mineral oils, situate, lying and being in the San Fernando Petroleum Mining District, in the County of Los Angeles and State of California; that the notice of said location was duly recorded in the Recorder’s Office of the said San Fernando Petroleum Mining District, on the 7th day of February, 1866, copy of which is hereto attached and made a part hereof, marked “Plaintiff’s Exhibit A”; that the said persons so locating said mine immediately thereafter took possession of the said mining claim and worked the same in accordance with the local mining laws of said District and of the mining laws of the United States; and they, and their successors, grantees and assigns, have ever since owned and possessed the same. That the said location and Mining Claim was generally known as the “Pico Oil Springs Mine.”

III.
That on or about and during the months of March and April, 1877, the said R. S. Baker represented to the said Pio Pico, that their interest in the said Oil Springs Mining Claim could be managed, controlled and used to their mutual advantage more successfully, if the title to the same was held by one person, and then requested of the said Pico, that he convey to him (Baker) his interest in the said Pico Oil Springs Claim, and promised to the said Pico, if he would so convey, he (Baker) would bestow the same care and attention on the interest so conveyed to him, as upon his own interest, and would make return to him of all the profits and proceeds arising from the working, use or other disposition of the interest so conveyed to him, and to which the said Pico assented; and thereupon, on or about the 21st day of May, 1877, in pursuance of said understanding and agreement the said Pio Pico conveyed to the said R. S. Baker, one of the defendants herein, by a deed of grant, bargain and sale, all his right, title and interest, of and to the said Pico Oil Springs Claim, and the same was duly acknowledged and recorded, copy of which is hereto attached and made a part hereof, marked “Plff’s Ex. B”. That the said conveyance was made by the said Pio Pico to the said R. S. Baker without any consideration, but nevertheless, in trust that the same be held by the said Baker to the use, benefit and behoof of the said Pico.

IV.
That simultaneously with the execution and delivery of the said deed, made in trust as aforesaid, the said Robert S. Baker made, executed, acknowledged and delivered to the said Pio Pico, a declaration of trust, wherein and whereby the covenanted and agreed to and with the said Pico that he would bestow the same care and attention upon the interest of the said Pico so conveyed to him as aforesaid, as he did upon his own interest in the said Pico Oil Springs Claim, and that out of the profits and proceeds arising from the use, working or other disposition of the said Pico Oil Springs Mine, he would pay over to the said Pico his proportionate share of whatever might be realized there from. That a copy of said declaration of trust is hereto attached and made a part hereof, and is marked “Plff’s Ex. C”.

That soon after the execution of said deed and declaration of trust as aforesaid, it was discovered that a clerical error existed in the said deed from said Pico to said Baker, in this; that the grantee was written “the party of the first part” instead of “the party of the second part”, as it had been intended, and for the purpose of correcting said error, and in order that the title and record thereof might stand as it had been intended, the said Pio Pico, on the 14th day of June, 1877, at the request of said Baker, made a deed of conveyance of the same property described in his deed of May 21st, 1877, to R. S. Baker, the same grantee as in the previous deed as aforesaid, without any consideration whatever, the two deeds being identical in the parties in the property conveyed, and in form, except that in the last deed, the said clerical error had been corrected; that the said deed was duly acknowledged, and on the 16th day of June, 1877, was duly recorded in the County Recorder’s office of Los Angeles County, in Liber 54 of Deeds, at page 430, a copy of which deed is hereto attached and made part hereof, marked “Plff’s Ex. D.”

That under and by virtue of the mining laws of the United States, the said R. S. Baker and others, his associates, interested in the said Pico Oil Springs Mine, the grantees of the original locators and claimants of said claim, procured to be issued and there was issued to them, the U. S. Patent for the said Pico Oil Springs Mine, dated the 14th day of September, 1880, and the same was recorded in the County Recorder’s office of Los Angeles County, in said state, in Book of Patents No. 3, at page 224; that the premises surveyed and patented by the United States as aforesaid, are the same that were claimed and located as aforesaid, and known as the Pico Oil Springs Mine.

That theretofore and on or about the 12th day of April, 1876, the said Baker and his said associates, other than the said Pico, leased for the term of three years, a part of the said Pico Oil Springs Mine, to wit: one thousand feet thereof described by metes and bounds in the lease, to one Reuben Denton, who afterwards, to wit: on or about the 5th day of May, 1876, assigned and transferred the said lease to the California Star Oil Works Company, one of the defendants herein, and thereupon the said Company entered into possession of the premises so leased as aforesaid, and bored and sunk various and sundry wells thereon and extracted therefrom large quantities of petroleum or mineral oils, to wit: 1200 barrels per month from the said 12th day of April, 1876, during the continuance of said lease, to wit: up to the 12 day of April, 1879, as your plaintiff is informed and believes and so charges the fact to be. That by the terms of said lease, the said Baker and his associates, other than the said Pico, were to receive one-eighth part of all the petroleum or mineral oils extracted from the leased premises. That one-seventh part of all the petroleum or mineral oils so extracted by the said Company belonged to the said Pico, but the said Company have retained and still retain all that part or portion of the petroleum or mineral oils so extracted, belonging to the said Pico as aforesaid and have failed and neglected and still fail and neglect to render any account thereof to the said Pico or to deliver to him his share thereof, or to pay to him the value thereof, or any part or portion thereof.

That afterwards, to wit: on or about the said 15th day of August, 1882, the said R. S. Baker and the said California Star Oil Works Company, being at all times well advised of all the foregoing facts and circumstances, and well knowing that the said Baker held the said interest of the said Pico in trust as aforesaid, and conspiring and confederating together to cheat and defraud the said Pico out of his interest in the said Pico Oil Springs Mining Claim, and of his proportionate share of the products thereof, agreed that the said Baker and his associates holding the legal title to the said Pico Oil Springs Mine, should convey the same to the California Star Oil Works Company, by deed expressing upon its face a mere nominal consideration, but covertly and secretly there should be delivered to the said Baker and his associates, grantors named in said deed, in payment for said conveyances a large sum of money and a large number of shares of the Capital Stock of said Company; that afterwards, and on or about the said 15th day of August, 1882, and in pursuance of said agreement and for carrying out the fraudulent purposes aforesaid, the said R. S. Baker and his co-tenants conveyed by deed of that date the entire Pico Oil Springs Mine as the same was patented as aforesaid, by a grant, bargain and sale deed for the consideration (as expressed in said deed) of five dollars, which deed was duly acknowledged on the same day and recorded in County Recorder’s Office of Los Angeles County, in Book 103 of Deeds at page 253.

That the consideration expressed in said deed was untrue and did not express the true consideration therefor and was fraudulent and deceptive, and was intended to, and did deceive the said Pico; but in truth and in fact as plaintiff is informed and believes, and so charges, that on the same day or soon thereafter, the said company delivered to the said Baker and his co-grantor in said deed, $150,000 in cash and a large number of shares of the Capital Stock of said Company, to wit: a fraction less than one half of its Capital Stock as the consideration for the said conveyance and afterwards, for the purpose of concealing the said transaction from the said Pico and for more effectually carrying out the said fraudulent designs, the said R. S. Baker, without consideration, transferred and assigned so much of the said stock of the said Company as was the proportionate share of the said Pio Pico, of the consideration received for the conveyance as aforesaid of the said Pico Oil Springs Mine, to Arcadia Baker, wife of the said R. S. Baker, and one of the defendants herein, she well knowing all the facts and circumstances hereinbefore related and alleged, and particularly that the stock so transferred to here as aforesaid, was held in trust by the said R. S. Baker for the said Pio Pico.

That since the conveyance to the said California Star Oil Company and the receipts by the said R. S. Baker of the shares of the stock of the said company as aforesaid, the said R. S. Baker and the said Arcadia Baker have received monthly dividends upon each share of stock so held by them, amounting in the aggregate to a large sum of money, the exact amount of which is unknown to plaintiff, and cannot be ascertained by him unless by reference to and examination of the books and papers of said company.

That the fraudulent acts and transactions hereinbefore related and averred, did not become known to the said Pio Pico until the month of February, 1884.

That the said Pio Pico, on the 9th day of March, 1886, by an instrument in writing, for a valuable consideration, duly sold, assigned and transferred all his right, title and interest of, in and to the said Pico Oil Springs Mine, and the proceeds thereof then due and belonging to him, to Juan M. Luco, the plaintiff herein.

Wherefore plaintiff prays that it be ordered, adjudged and decreed that defendant, the Star Oil Works Company, produce and submit to the inspection of plaintiff herein, all its books, papers, stock books, minute books, showing the proceedings of the Board of Directors and of the stockholders and dividend books, from the time of its incorporation, and that it disclose and make known to plaintiff the number of barrels of petroleum pumped out of, extracted and taken by it from that part of the Pico Oil Springs Mine held under lease from R. S. Baker, E. F. Beale, Sanford Lyon and Chs. Leaming from the 12th day of April, 1876, to the 12th day of April, 1879; and that said defendant a true account render to plaintiff, showing the number of barrels of petroleum or mineral oils extracted, pumped out of and removed from the said Pico Oil Springs Claim between the 12th day of April, 1879, and the 15th day of August, 1882, and also the product of the said Pico Oil Springs Mine from the said last mentioned date to the time of filing this complaint, and a full and true account of the cash receipts and the disbursements arising from the sales of all oils, refined, lubricatory, and all other products made from crude petroleum; also an account showing the number of shares of the Capital Stock of the said California Star Oil Works Company, issues and delivered to the said defendant R. S. Baker, as the consideration for the conveyances made to said Company by the said Baker and others of the said Pico Oil Springs Mining Claim; also the number and amount of dividends paid by said Company upon said stock to the said R. S. Baker and Arcadia Baker, or either of them, since the 15th day of August, 1882.

That by decree of this Court it be determined that plaintiff is entitled to a conveyance from the said defendant, California Star Oil Works Company, of one seventh part of all the Capital Stock of the said Company and of all its rights and privileges, and for a judgment for one seventh part of all the proceeds arising from the sale of the products of the aforesaid property, since the 12th day of April, 1876, as the same may be found upon an accounting, and that he have judgment therefor against the said defendant, the California Star Oil Works Company.

That by the decree of this Court it be ordered that the said defendants R. S. Baker and Arcadia Baker, render a full, true and correct account of all the products and proceeds growing out of and arising from, or in any manner accruing therefrom, and particularly of all dividends declared and paid by the said Company upon its Capital Stock to the said defendants R. S. Baker and Arcadia Baker or either of them since its incorporation, upon the stock of said Company issued to them or either of them for the conveyance of the interest of the said Pio Pico in the said Mining Claim, and that plaintiff have judgment for the same.

And also, that said defendants R. S. Baker and Arcadia Baker, assign, set over and deliver up to plaintiff, all the Capital Stock of the California Star Oil Works Company, defendant issued and delivered to them or either of them, in payment for and as a consideration for the conveyance to the said Company, of the interest, share and proportion of the said Pio Pico of, in and to the said Pico Oil Springs Mining Claim, and that plaintiff have such other and further relief as justice and equity require.

I. N. Thorne
Attorney for Plaintiff

January 25, 1887