Arenas v. United States, 1321 O'C. Civil.

• Decision Date: 25 April 1945
• Docket Number: No. 1321 O'C. Civil.,1321 O'C. Civil.
• Citation: 60 F. Supp. 411
• Parties: ARENAS v. UNITED STATES.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of California

60 F. Supp. 411

ARENAS v. UNITED STATES.

No. 1321 O'C. Civil.

District Court, S. D. California, Central Division.

April 25, 1945.

John W. Preston, Oliver O. Clark, David D. Sallee, Benson L. Smith, and Robert A. Smith, all of Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff.

Eugene D. Williams and James A. Murray, Sp. Assts. to Atty. Gen., and Marvin J. Sonosky, Atty., Department of Justice, of Washington, D. C., for the defendant.

J. F. T. O'CONNOR, District Judge.

Contemporary litigation:

This is an action by Lee Arenas, a citizen of the United States and of the State of California,¹ who is likewise a full blooded Mission Indian, of age, regularly enrolled and a registered member of the Agua Caliente or Palm Springs Band of Mission Indians of California and who, during all of his life, has been a resident upon the said Reservation, against the United States of America. He contends that he is entitled to a Trust Patent to certain lands in the Palm Springs Reservation in his own right, and also to trust patents as an heir at law and next of kin of his deceased wife, Guadaloupe Arenas; of his deceased father, Francisco Arenas; and of his deceased brother, Simon Arenas. As the dates the deceased Indians died are important, it will be stated, in limine, that Guadaloupe Arenas died March 26, 1937; that Francisco Arenas died October 4, 1924; and that Simon Arenas died February 18, 1925.

The action is brought under the Act of August 15, 1894, 25 U.S.C.A. § 345 (31 Stat. 760), which authorizes "all persons who are in whole or in part of Indian blood or descent who are entitled to an allotment of land under any law of Congress, or who claim to be so entitled to land under any allotment Act or under any grant made by Congress * * * may commence and prosecute or defend any action * * *." The controversy is one of long standing and involves the legal effect of certain schedules of allotments of 1923 and 1927, respectively, selected by special allotting agent H. E. Wadsworth, the former of which was rejected by the plaintiff and others in 1923, and the latter of which was acquiesced in by the plaintiff and others in 1927; the legal effect of certificates issued and accepted or not accepted; the right of deceased Indians; the power of the Secretary of the Interior to approve and disapprove schedules of allotment, to issue and to refuse to issue allotment certificates and trust patents; that of heirship among Indians, and the efficacy of subsequent statutes to vitiate prior vested rights of the Indians.

To give a background to prior litigation in this and the other contemporary companion suit, a few pertinent facts should be stated. On May 8, 1936, eighteen Indians joined in one action in this court against the United States, all members of the same Band as Lee Arenas, the plaintiff in this action, to compel the issuance of Trust Patents to land in the Palm Springs Indian Reservation. These eighteen suits covered all but eleven of the selectees listed on the 1927 schedule as more fully described hereafter. The action was known as St. Marie et al. v. United States. Judgment was entered against the plaintiffs and in favor of the United States (D.C., 24 F.Supp. 237), and was affirmed, 9 Cir., 1940, 108 F.2d 876. The Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari on October 14, 1940, for the reason that the petition therefor was filed too late. 311 U.S. 652, 61 S.Ct. 35, 85 L.Ed. 417.

Lee Arenas filed this instant action on December 24, 1940. The attorneys for the plaintiff and the government stipulated in open court that the District Court was bound by the decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in the St. Marie case, supra, and judgment was entered in favor of the government. This action was appealed to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the District Court's ruling was affirmed in Arenas v. United States, 9 Cir., 137 F.2d 199, the Circuit Court following its decision in the said St. Marie case under the doctrine of stare decisis.

The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari on December 20, 1943, in this, the Lee Arenas case (320 U.S. 733, 64 S.Ct. 368, 88 L.Ed. 433) and on May 22, 1944, reversed the decision of the Circuit Court of Appeals in 9 Cir., 137 F.2d 199, and remanded the case for further proceedings. 322 U.S. 419, 64 S.Ct. 1090, 88 L.Ed. 1363. The several opinions written contain most of the facts and the applicable statutes. See opinion by Circuit Judge Haney, and dissenting opinion by Circuit Judge Garrecht in the St. Marie case, supra, which cover approximately twenty pages. Associate Jackson's opinion, speaking for the Supreme Court, covers twenty pages in Lee Arenas v. United States, 322 U.S. 419, 64 S.Ct. 1090, 88 L.Ed. 1363, argued March 6 and 7, 1944, and decided May 22, 1944. The length of the opinions, and the careful consideration given to the subject, indicate the importance the Circuit and Supreme Courts attached to the questions involved.

Facts in the instant case:

Upon the reversal of this, the Lee Arenas, case in the Supreme Court, counsel for the plaintiff filed a third amended complaint, to which there was an answer, a pre-trial hearing, a trial on the merits, and an order of court taking the case under submission on briefs, which briefs have been duly considered by the court. Counsel for the plaintiff allege, inter alia, that the Secretary of the Department of the Interior of the United States, acting under the authority of the Act of Congress of January 12, 1891, 26 Stat.L. 712-714, as amended June 25, 1910, 36 Stat.L. 855-863, and March 2, 1917, 39 Stat.L. 976, did, on or about the 7th day of June, 1921, conclude and determine that, in his opinion, the aforesaid Mission Indians of California were so far advanced in civilization as to be capable of owning and managing land in severalty. Preliminarily, as this is an important predicate for the cause of action, the court must assume this allegation to be true in view of the fact that it has not been successfully controverted by proof offered by the Government.

Historically, in order that the Palm Springs or Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians should have land allotted to them in severalty, Secretary Lane, in 1916, called the neglect to the attention of Congress and asked that he be authorized to make allotments in amounts controlled by the General Allotment Act of 1887, General allotment Act of 1887, 24 Stat. 388, as amended by Sec. 17 of the Act of June 25, 1910, 36 Stat. 859, 25 U.S.C.A. § 331, instead of in those set out in the Mission Act of 1891, supra. Thereupon Congress passed the Act of March 2, 1917, 39 Stat.L. 969, 976, by which it directed the Secretary to proceed under the Act of 1910.

It has been stipulated, and therefore taken to be a fact, that the Secretary of the Department of the Interior did, on or about the 7th day of June, 1921, appoint one H. E. Wadsworth as Special United States Allotting Agent at Large for the Mission Indians Reservations of California; and acting pursuant to said authority, the said Special Allotting Agent was duly authorized to prepare a schedule of selections for allotments on the Mission Indian Reservations including the Palm Springs Indian Reservation, and that he surveyed and classified, or caused to be surveyed and classified, the lands of the Palm Springs or Agua Caliente Reservation of Mission Indians of California in order that allotments thereof in severalty should be made by said Special Allotting Agent to the members of the said Band of Mission Indians in accordance with the Statutes of the United States. Special Allotting Agent, H. E. Wadsworth, by letter dated January 7, 1923, sent the classification and appraisement schedules of the lands of this reservation to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. (Court's Exhibit No. 7.)

In due course H. E. Wadsworth received a letter from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated March 27, 1923, reading, inter alia, as follows:

"Reference is made to your letter of March 12, 1923, relative to allotting the lands of the Agua Caliente or Palm Springs Reservation wherein you invite the attention of the office also to the suggestions contained in your letter of January 7, 1923.

"The office has no objection to your making the allotments on that reservation at this time, before the hot weather comes on, and the general instructions contained in office letter of November 20, 1922, will be your authority and guidance in the matter. The necessary arrangements will be made with the General Land Office for the services of a surveyor in connection therewith.

"You may begin the allotting at Agua Caliente or Palm Springs as soon as the progress of your work will permit, and it is suggested that you confer with Supervisor Ellis in the matter and also carefully explain the proposed plan to the surveyor.

"Sincerely yours "(Sgd) Chas. H. Burke "Commissioner."

(Court's Exhibit No. 8.)

These Indians on this Reservation, upon learning that allotments were going to be given to them, for one reason or another, did not consider that it would be to their advantage to become allottees, and while the court does not know how many dissenters there were out of a total of fifty prospective allottees, twenty-six members of the Palm Springs Indian Band, including Lee Arenas, Guadaloupe Arenas and Simon Arenas, wrote a letter dated May 1st, 1923, to the Secretary of the Interior, setting forth their reasons for not wanting Government allotments² This letter was introduced at the trial as Defendant's Exhibit D, and, in view of the Indians' attitude regarding their prospective allotments reflected therein, and of the Government's insistence that they have their allotment certificates notwithstanding, it is set forth in this opinion in extenso. From Defendant's Ex. E,³ the telegram to the Secretary of the Interior, dated May 1, 1923, we have a further exemplification of the Indians' attitude relative to their...