Antoine Starr v. Samuel Campbell

• Citation: 52 L.Ed. 602,208 U.S. 527,28 S.Ct. 365
• Decision Date: 24 February 1908
• Docket Number: No. 132,132
• Parties: ANTOINE G. STARR, an Infant, by his Guardian, A. Pearce Tomkins, Plff. in Err., v. SAMUEL W. CAMPBELL
• Court: United States Supreme Court

208 U.S. 527

28 S.Ct. 365

52 L.Ed. 602

ANTOINE G. STARR, an Infant, by his Guardian, A. Pearce Tomkins, Plff. in Err.,

v SAMUEL W. CAMPBELL.

No. 132.

Argued January 24, 1908.

Decided February 24, 1908.

Mr. W. M. Tomkins for plaintiff in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 527-528 intentionally omitted] Solicitor General Hoyt for defendant in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 528-529 intentionally omitted] Messrs. Charles Quarles and Francis H. De Groat as amici curice.

Mr. Justice Mckenna delivered the opinion of the court:

This writ of error is directed to a judgment sustaining a demurrer to a complaint in an action to recover certain moneys collected by the defendant, who is an Indian agent, for timber cut off plaintiff's allotment. The case comes directly from the circuit court, as involving the construction of a treaty.

The plaintiff is an infant Indian of the Chippewa Indians of the Lake Superior, and Tomkins is his duly appointed guardian.

A summary of the complaint is as follows:

On the 1st of October, 1901, the plaintiff then residing on the Bad River Indian Reservation, the President of the United States, in accordance with the provisions of the 3d article of the treaty concluded September 30, 1854 [10 Stat. at L. 1110], with the Chippewa Indians of the Lake Superior, approved a selection of land made by plaintiff, and assigned to him the west half of the southeast quarter of section 4, township 46 north, of range 3, west of the 4th principal meridian in the state of Wisconsin.

Article 3 of the treaty is as follows:

'Article 3. The United States will define the boundaries of the reserved tracts, whenever it may be necessary, by actual survey, and the President may, from time to time, at his discretion, cause the whole to be surveyed, and may assign to each head of a family, or a single person over twenty-one years of age, 80 acres of land for his or their separate use; and he may, at his discretion, as fast as the occupants become capable of transacting their own affairs, issue patents therefor to such occupants, with such restrictions of the power of alienation as he may see fit to impose. And he may, also at his discretion, make rules and regulations respecting the disposition of the lands in case of the death of the head of a family or single person occupying the same, or in case of its abandonment by them. And he may also assign other lands in exchange for mineral lands, if any such are found in the tracts herein set apart. And he may also make such changes in the boundaries of such reserved tracts or otherwise as shall be necessary to prevent interference with any vested rights. All necessary roads, highways, and railroads, the lines of which may run through any of the reserved tracts, shall have the right of way through the same, compensation being made therefor as in other cases.'

By the act of Congress of February 11, 1901 [31 Stat. at L. 766, chap. 350], the right to allotments was extended to all Indians then residing on the La Pointe or Bad River Reservation, irrespective of age or condition. A patent was duly issued on the 29th June, 1905, to plaintiff, and the land conveyed, exclusive of the merchantable timber standing thereon, is of the value of $1,000. On the 8th January, 1902, the plaintiff made a contract with one Justus S. Stearns, by which he agreed to sell him the merchantable lumber under the rules and regulations approved by the President, December 6, 1893, standing or fallen, on said lands, and the said Stearns agreed to cut and remove the same, employing Indian labor therein, and pay to the United States Indian agent for the La Pointe agency, in trust for the plaintiff, certain designated sums, according to the kind of lumber cut. There were other details, which need not be mentioned. The agreement was subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

A copy of the regulations made in 1893 is attached to the contract, rule 7 of which is the only one material, and is as follows:

'7. After deducting one half of the cost of the scaling and other necessary expenses chargeable against the same, the proceeds of timber sold from the unallotted portions of the reservation shall be paid to the Indian agent, to be expended for the relief and benefit of the Indians of the reservation under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and the proceeds of timber taken from the allotted lands of the reservation shall, after the deductions above stated, be deposited in some national bank subject to check of the Indian owner of the allotment, countersigned by the Indian agent of the La Pointe agency, unless otherwise stipulated in contracts with particular Indians.'

In December, 1902, the President amended that rule by adding thereto the following:

'If the Indian agent shall, in any case, be of the opinion that the allottee is not...