claim jumper
Steals staked ground
A claim jumper is someone who illegally takes over another person's mining claim—land staked out for extracting minerals.
The term comes from the American frontier, where prospectors would stake claims to potentially valuable ground.
By extension, a claim jumper is anyone who swoops in to take what someone else has rightfully established: He's a claim jumper who stole my client while I was on vacation.
One seeking valuable deposits
- forty-ninerGold rush prospector
- boomtownRapidly growing community
- stakingRisking something valuable
- placerMineral-rich sediment accumulation
Sutter's Mill · panning · mother lode · diggings · goldfield · grubstake · sluice · gold pan
Legal dispute process
- lawsuitCivil court proceeding
- boundary disputeConflict over territorial limits
- conflictOpposition between parties
- contentionAssertion or rivalry
feud · legal battle · property rights · mineral rights · challenge · confrontation · vigilante justice · arbitration
Excessive desire for riches
- covetousnessExcessive desire for possessions
- opportunismExploiting circumstances for gain
- rapacityAggressive, seizing greed
- acquisitivenessDesire to gather wealth
selfishness · exploitation · hoarding · gold fever · profiteering
One who settles wilderness land
- settlerOne who colonizes territory
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- squatterUnauthorized building inhabitant
- frontiersmanSettler of wild borders
territory · westward · homestead · outpost · wilderness · expansion · trailblazer · land office
Unlawful entrant on property
- interloperOne who enters uninvited
- poacherUnlawful wildlife taker
- encroacherOne who intrudes gradually
- usurperIllegal power seizer
swindler · fraud · larceny · stealing · pilfering · dispossession · appropriation · seizure
prospector
One seeking valuable deposits
- forty-ninerGold rush prospector
- boomtownRapidly growing community
- stakingRisking something valuable
placer · Sutter's Mill · panning · mother lode · diggings · goldfield · grubstake · sluice · gold pan · flume
litigation
Legal dispute process
- lawsuitCivil court proceeding
- boundary disputeConflict over territorial limits
- conflictOpposition between parties
contention · feud · legal battle · property rights · mineral rights · challenge · confrontation · vigilante justice · arbitration
avarice
Excessive desire for riches
- covetousnessExcessive desire for possessions
- opportunismExploiting circumstances for gain
- rapacityAggressive, seizing greed
acquisitiveness · selfishness · exploitation · hoarding · gold fever · profiteering
homesteader
One who settles wilderness land
- settlerOne who colonizes territory
- pioneerEarly explorer or settler
- squatterUnauthorized building inhabitant
frontiersman · territory · westward · homestead · outpost · wilderness · expansion · trailblazer · land office · preemption
trespasser
Unlawful entrant on property
- interloperOne who enters uninvited
- poacherUnlawful wildlife taker
- encroacherOne who intrudes gradually
usurper · swindler · fraud · larceny · stealing · pilfering · dispossession · appropriation · seizure · plunder
- Old Westcowboy, cowboys, cowgirl, sheriff, sheriffs
- Westernscowboys, western, outlaws, sheriffs, western novels
- Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush, gold miners, gold mining, gold flakes, gold nuggets
- Outlawsoutlaw, bandit, desperado, highwayman, robber
- gold mininggold pan, pan, panning, nuggets, gold nugget
- seekersseekers, seeker, treasure hunters, searcher, fortune seekers
claim jumperrightful owner
One with legitimate claim
patent holder · registered owner · homesteader · stakeholder · deed holder
claim jumperphilanthropist
Donor to charitable causes
benefactor · giver · sharer · donor · helper
claim jumpershare
Portion given out
give · donate · help · benefactor
claim, claims, claimed, claiming, claimer, claimant, claimants, reclaim, reclaims