Starr v. Long Jim

• Decision Date: 24 February 1913
• Docket Number: No. 151,151
• Citation: 57 L.Ed. 670,227 U.S. 613,33 S.Ct. 358
• Parties: R. W. STARR, Plff. in Err., v. LONG JIM and Annie, His Wife
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

227 U.S. 613

33 S.Ct. 358

57 L.Ed. 670

R. W. STARR, Plff. in Err.,

v LONG JIM and Annie, His Wife.

No. 151.

Argued January 28, 1913.

Decided February 24, 1913.

Mr. R. W. Starr, pro se, and Mr. Frank Reeves for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. A. G. Avery and F. T. Post for defendants in error.

Mr. Justice Pitney delivered the opinion of the court:

The plaintiff in error brought this action against the defendants in error in the superior court of the state of Washington in and for the county of Chelan to establish and quiet his title to certain lands in that county. The answer showed that the plaintiff claimed his title under a deed made by the defendants, and attacked the validity of this instrument on the ground of fraud in its procurement, and on the further ground that, at the time of its execution the title to the lands therein described was in the United States, and the defendants were without power to convey them. The trial court made findings of fact negativing the charges of fraud, and concluded as matter of law that the conveyance made by the defendants to plaintiff was valid, and that the plaintiff was entitled to recover. From the resulting judgment the defendants appealed to the supreme court of the state, which reversed the judgment and remanded the cause, with directions to enter a judgment in favor of the defendants upon terms that they should repay the consideration paid by the plaintiff to them, with certain additional charges. 52 Wash. 138, 100 Pac. 194. After the cause was remanded, a further hearing was had and a second and final judgment entered in accordance with the mandate. From this judgment the plaintiff appealed, and the supreme court of the state affirmed the judgment (59 Wash. 190, 109 Pac. 810) and the case comes here by writ of error.

The facts are as follows:—The defendants are husband and wife and full-blooded Indians, and the lands in question are a part of what was the Columbia Indian Reservation. On July 7th, 1883, in the city of Washington, the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, on the part of the United States, and Chief Moses and other Indians of the Columbia and Colville Reservations in the then territory of Washington, entered into a certain agreement, subject to the approval of Congress, the material parts of which are as follows:

'In the conference with Chiefs Moses and Sar-sarp-kin, of the Columbia Reservation, and Tonasket and Lot, of the Colville Reservation, had this day, the following was substantially what was asked for by the Indians:

'Tonasket asked for a saw and gristmill, a boarding school to be established at Bonaparte creek to accommodate one hundred (100) pupils, and physician to reside with them, and $100 (one hundred) to himself each year.

'Sar-sarp-kin asked to be allowed to remain on the Columbia Reservation with his people, where they now live, and to be protected in their rights as settlers, and, in addition to the ground they now have under cultivation within the limit of the 15-mile strip cut off from the northern portion of the Columbia Reservation, to be allowed to select enough more unoccupied land in severalty to make a total to Sarsarp-kin of 4 square miles, being 2,560 acres of land, and each head of a family or male adult 1 square mile, or to remove onto the Colville Reservation, if they so desire; and in case they so remove, and relinquish all their claims to the Columbia Reservation, he is to receive one hundred (100) head of cows for himself and people, and such farming implements as may be necessary.

'All of which the Secretary agrees they should have, and that he will ask Congress to make an appropriation to enable him to perform.

'The Secretary also agrees to ask Congress to make an appropriation to enable him to purchase for Chief Moses a sufficient number of cows to furnish each one of his band with two cows; also to give Moses one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the purpose of erecting a dwelling house for himself; also to construct a sawmill and gristmill as soon as the same shall be required for use; also that each head of a family or each male adult person shall be furnished with one wagon, one double set of harness, one grain cradle, one plow, one harrow, one scythe, one hoe, and such other agricultural implements as may be necessary.

'And, on condition that Chief Moses and his people keep this agreement faithfully, he is to be paid in cash, in addition to all of the above, one thousand dollars ($1,000) per annum during his life.

'All this on condition that Chief Moses shall remove to the Colville Reversation and relinquish all claims upon the government for any land situate elsewhere.

'Further, that the government will secure to Chief Moses and his people, as well as to all other Indians who may go onto the Colville Reservation and engage in farming, equal rights and protection alike with all other Indians now on the Colville Reservation, and will afford him any assistance necessary to enable him to carry out the terms of this agreement on the part of himself and his people; that until he and his people are located permanently on the Colville Reservation his status shall remain as now, and the police over his people shall be vested in the military, and all money or articles to be furnished him and his people shall be sent to some point in the locality of his people, there to be distributed as provided. All other Indians now living on the Columbia Reservation shall be entitled to 640 acres, or 1 square mile, of land to each head of family or male adult, in the possession and ownership of which they shall be guaranteed and protected; or, should they move onto the Colville Reservation within two years, they will be provided with such farming implements as may be required, provided they surrender all rights to the Columbia Reservation.

'All the foregoing is upon the condition that Congress will make an appropriation of funds necessary to accomplish the foregoing and confirm this agreement, and also, with the understanding that Chief Moses, or any of the Indians, heretofore mentioned, shall not be required to remove to the Colville Reservation until Congress does make such appropriation,' etc.

This agreement was ratified and confirmed by act of Congress of July 4, 1884, chap. 180, 23 Stat. at L. 79, which reads as follows:

'For the purpose of carrying into effect the agreement entered into at the city of Washington on the seventh day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-three, between the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and Chief Moses and other Indians of the Columbia and Colville Reservations, in Washington territory, which agreement is hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed, including all expenses incident thereto, eighty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be required therefor, to be immediately available: Provided, that Sarsopkin and the Indians now residing on said Columbia Reservation shall elect within one year from the passage of this act whether they will remain upon said reservation on the terms therein stipulated or remove to the Colville Reservation: And provided, further, that in case said Indians so elect to remain on said Columbia Reservation, the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the quantity of land therein stipulated to be allowed them to be selected in as compact form as possible, the same when so selected to be held for the exclusive use and occupation of said Indians, and the remainder of said reservation to be thereupon restored to the public domain, and shall be disposed of to actual settlers under the homestead laws only, except such portion thereof as may properly be subject to sale under the laws relating to the entry of timber lands and of mineral lands, the entry of which shall be governed by the laws now in force concerning the entry of such lands.'

In the above agreement of July 7, 1883 (commonly called the Moses agreement), the following clause is especially pertinent to the present controversy, viz.: 'All other Indians now living on the Columbia Reservation shall be entitled to 640 acres, or 1 square mile, of land to each head of family or male adult, in the possession and ownership of which they shall be guaranteed and protected.'

In the confirmatory act the following proviso is to be noted: 'That in case said Indians so elect to remain on said Columbia Reservation, the Secretary of the Interior shall cause the quantity of land therein stipulated to be allowed them to be selected in as compact form as possible, the same when so selected to be held for the exclusive use and occupation of said Indians, and the remainder of said reservation to be thereupon restored to the public domain, and shall be disposed of to actual settlers,' etc.

By an executive order made by President Cleveland under date May 1, 1886 (Executive Orders, Indian Reserves, 1890, p. 75), the land in question was restored to the public domain, subject to the limitations as to disposition imposed by the act of July 4, 1884; it being, however, at the same time ordered that certain tracts of land surveyed for and allotted to Sar-sarp-kin and other Indians in accordance with...