Opinion of the Court. river, to restrain and prevent encroachments upon and obstructions to the river, and to cause the river to be dredged, passed an ordinance declaring this wharf to be an obstruction to navigation and a nuisance, and ordering it to be abated. The point adjudged was that the mere declaration of the city council that the wharf already built and owned by the plaintiff was a nuisance did not make it such, or subject it to be removed by authority of the city. It was recognized in the opinion that by the law of Wisconsin, established by the decisions of its Supreme Court, the title of the owner of land bounded by a navigable river extended to the centre of the stream, subject, of course, to the public right of navigation. Jones v. Pettibone, 2 Wisconsin, 308; Walker v. Shepardson, 2 Wisconsin, 384, and 4 Wisconsin, 486; Mariner v. Schulte, 13 Wisconsin, 692; Arnold v. Elmore, 16 Wisconsin, 536. See also Olson v. Merrill, 42 Wisconsin, 203; Norcross v. Griffiths, 65 Wisconsin, 599. And the only decision of that court, which this court considered itself not bound to follow, was Yates v. Judd, 18 Wisconsin, 118, upon the question of fact whether certain evidence was sufficient to prove a dedication to the public. 10 Wall. 504–506, VII. The later judgments of this court clearly establish that the title and rights of riparian or littoral proprietors in the soil below high water mark of navigable waters are governed by the local laws of the several States, subject, of course, to the rights granted to the United States by the Constitution. In Weber v, Harbor Commissioners, above cited, Mr. Justice Field, in delivering judgment, while recognizing the correctness of the doctrine "that a riparian proprietor, whose land is bounded by a navigable stream, has the right of access to the navigable part of the stream in front of his land, and to construct a wharf or pier projecting into the stream, for his own use, or the use of others, subject to such general rules and regulations as the legislature may prescribe for the protection of the public," and admitting that in several of the States, by general legislation or immemorial usage, the proprietor of land bounded by the shore of the sea, or of an arm of the sea, has a right to wharf out to the point where the waters are Opinion of the Court. navigable, said: "In the absence of such legislation or usage, however, the common law rule would govern the rights of the proprietor, at least in those States where the common law obtains. By that law, the title to the shore of the sea, and of the arms of the sea, and in the soils under tide waters is, in England, in the King, and, in this country, in the State. Any erection thereon without license is, therefore, deemed an encroachment upon the property of the sovereign, or, as it is termed in the language of the law, a purpresture, which he may remove at pleasure, whether it tends to obstruct navigation or otherwise." 18 Wall. 64, 65. In Atlee v. Packet Co., (1874,) 21 Wall. 389, which arose in Iowa in 1871, Mr. Justice Miller, in delivering judgment, after referring to Dutton v. Strong, Railroad Co. v. Schurmeir, and Yates v. Milwaukee, above cited, disclaimed laying down any invariable rule as to the extent to which wharves and landing places might be built out into navigable waters by private individuals or municipal corporations; and recognized that a State might, by its legislation, or by authority expressly or impliedly delegated to municipal governments, control the construction, erection and use of such wharves or landings, so as to secure their safety and usefulness, and to prevent their being obstructions to navigation. 21 Wall. 392, 393. And it was adjudged, following in this respect the opinion of the Circuit Court in 2 Dillon, 479, that a riparian proprietor had no right, without statutory authority, to build out piers into the Mississippi River as necessary parts of a boom to receive and retain logs until needed for sawing at his mill by the water side. In Railway Co. v. Renwick, (1880,) 102 U. S. 180, affirming the judgment of the Supreme Court of Iowa in 49 Iowa, 664, it was by virtue of an express statute passed by the legislature of Iowa in 1874, that the owner of a similar pier and boom recovered compensation for the obstruction of access to it from the river by the construction of a railroad in front of it. In Barney v. Keokuk, (1876,) 94 U. S. 324, the owner, under a grant from the United States, of two lots of land in Opinion of the Court. the city of Keokuk and State of Iowa, bounded by the Mississippi River, brought an action of ejectment against the city and several railroad companies and a steamboat company to recover possession of lands below high water mark in front of his lots, which the city, pursuant to statutes of the State, had filled up as a wharf and levee, and had permitted to be occupied by the railroads and landing places of those companies. The plaintiff's counsel relied on Dutton v. Strong, Railroad Co. v. Schurmeir and Yates v. Milwaukee, above cited. 94 U. S. 329, 331. But this court, affirming the judgment of the Circuit Court of the United States, held that the action could not be maintained; and Mr. Justice Bradley, in delivering judgment, summed up the law upon the subject with characteristic power and precision, saying: "It appears to be the settled law of that State that the title of the riparian proprietors on the banks of the Mississippi extends only to ordinary high water mark, and that the shore between high and low water mark, as well as the bed of the river, belongs to the State. This is also the common law with regard to navigable waters; although, in England, no waters are deemed navigable except those in which the tide ebbs and flows. In this country, as a general thing, all waters are deemed navigable which are really so; and especially is it true with regard to the Mississippi and its principal branches. The question as to the extent of the riparian title was elaborately discussed in the case of McManus v. Carmichael, 3 Iowa, 1. The above conclusion was reached, and has always been adhered to in that State. Haight v. Keokuk, 4 Iowa, 199; Tomlin v. Dubuque &c. Railroad, 32 Iowa, 106." "It is generally conceded that the riparian title attaches to subsequent accretions to the land, effected by the gradual and imperceptible operation of natural causes. But whether it attaches to land reclaimed by artificial means from the bed of the river, or to sudden accretions produced by unusual floods, is a question which each State decides for itself. By the common law, as before remarked, such additions to the land on navigable waters belong to the Crown; but, as the only waters recognized in Opinion of the Court. England as navigable were tide waters, the rule was often expressed as applicable to tide waters only, although the reason of the rule would equally apply to navigable waters above the flow of the tide; that reason being that the public authorities ought to have entire control of the great passageways of commerce and navigation, to be exercised for the public advantage and convenience. The confusion of navigable with tide water, found in the monuments of the common law, long prevailed in this country, notwithstanding the broad differences existing between the extent and topography of the British island and that of the American continent. It had the influence for two generations of excluding the admiralty jurisdiction from our great rivers and inland seas; and under the like influence it laid the foundation in many States of doctrines, with regard to the ownership of the soil in navigable waters above tide water, at variance with sound principles of public policy. Whether, as rules of property, it would now be safe to change these doctrines where they have been applied, as before remarked, is for the several States themselves to determine. If they choose to resign to the riparian proprietor rights which properly belong to them in their sovereign capacity, it is not for others to raise objections. In our view of the subject, the correct principles were laid down in Martin v. Waddell, 16 Pet. 367; Pollard v. Hagan, 3 How. 212; and Goodtitle v. Kibbe, 9 How. 471. These cases related to tide water, it is true; but they enunciate principles which are equally applicable to all navigable waters. And since this court, in the case of The Genesee Chief, 12 How. 443, has declared that the Great Lakes and other navigable waters of the country, above as well as below the flow of the tide, are, in the strictest sense, entitled to the denomination of navigable waters, and amenable to the admiralty jurisdiction, there seems to be no sound reason for adhering to the old rule as to the proprietorship of the beds and shores of such waters. It properly belongs to the States by their inherent sovereignty, and the United States has wisely abstained from extending (if it could extend) its survey and grants beyond Opinion of the Court. the limits of high water. The cases in which this court has seemed to hold a contrary view depended, as most cases must depend, on the local laws of the States in which the lands were situated. In Iowa, as before stated, the more correct rule seems to have been adopted after a most elaborate investigation of the subject." 94 U. S. 336-338. In St. Louis v. Myers, (1885,) 113 U. S. 566, the court, speaking by Chief Justice Waite, held that the act of Congress for the admission into the Union of the State of Missouri, bounded by the Mississippi River, which declared that the river should be "a common highway and forever free," left the rights of riparian owners to be settled according to the principles of state law; and that no Federal question was involved in a judgment of the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri as to the right of a riparian proprietor in the city of St. Louis to maintain an action against the city for extending one of its streets into the river so as to divert the natural course of the water and thereby to injure his property. In Packer v. Bird, (1891,) 137 U. S. 661, the general rules governing this class of cases were clearly and succinctly laid down by the court, speaking by Mr. Justice Field, as follows: "The courts of the United States will construe the grants of the general government without reference to the rules of construction adopted by the States for their grants; but whatever incidents or rights attach to the ownership of property conveyed by the government will be determined by the States, subject to the condition that their rules do not impair the efficacy of the grants, or the use and enjoyment of the property by the grantee. As an incident of such ownership, the right of the riparian owner, where the waters are above the influence of the tide, will be limited according to the law of the State, either to low or high water mark, or will extend to the middle of the stream." 137 U. S. 669, 670. 137 U. S. 669, 670. And it was accordingly held, affirming the judgment of the Supreme Court of California in 71 California, 134, and referring to the opinion in Barney v. Keokuk, above cited, as specially applicable to the case, that a person holding land under a patent from the United States, confirming a Mexican grant bounded by the |