Pacific Western Oil Corporation was established by Edward L. Doherty in 1928 before later coming under the control of J. Paul Getty and owned oil and gas drilling rights for large sections of Fresno County, California. An agricultural landowner had "mining" rights for the same area and sued. The oil companies asserted that, since their leases were issued by the United States Secretary of State, that they could not be sued without including the U.S. government but the court disagreed.
