Johnson v. Moab City — Utah’s 1886 Townsite Plat Vested Title Before the 1890 Federal Patent, Defeating a Century-Long Adverse Possession Claim
The Utah Court of Appeals reversed a partial summary judgment that had quieted most of a disputed downtown Moab parcel to a private landowner, holding that the 1886 Moab Townsite Plat vested title in the municipality before the 1890 federal Luster Patent issued, that Utah’s rebuttable presumption of official regularity supplies the missing historical documentation, and that adverse possession cannot run against government land designated for public use regardless of how long the private use has continued.