United States v. Abrams

• Decision Date: 04 March 1912
• Docket Number: 3,583.
• Citation: 194 F. 82
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. ABRAMS et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

194 F. 82

UNITED STATES v. ABRAMS et al.

No. 3,583.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

March 4, 1912

Paul A Ewert, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellant.

S. C Fullerton, for appellees.

Before SANBORN and ADAMS, Circuit Judges, and Wm. H. MUNGER District judge.

WM. H MUNGER, District Judge.

One Minnie Redeagle, a member of the Quapaw tribe of Indians was, on the 26th day of September, 1895, given by the United States a certain allotment patent in and to certain lands situated in the county of Ottawa, in the then Indian Territory, now state of Oklahoma, under and pursuant to the provisions of an act of Congress approved March 2, 1895 (28 Stat. 907, c. 188). That act contained the following provision:

'Provided, that said allotment shall be inalienable for a period of twenty-five years from and after the date of said patent.' Congress subsequently, to wit, on June 7, 1897 (30 Stat. 72, c. 3), passed an act providing for and governing the leasing of lands allotted under the provisions of the before-mentioned act of March 2, 1895. The provision, so far as applicable to this case, was as follows:

'That the allottees of land within the limits of the Quapaw agency, Indian Territory, are hereby authorized to lease their lands, or any part thereof, for a term not exceeding three years, for farming or grazing purposes, or ten years for mining or business purposes, and said allottees and their lessees and tenants shall have the right to employ such assistants, laborers and help, from time to time, as they may deem necessary.'

Thereafter and on the 27th of March, 1902, said Minnie Redeagle executed and delivered to the defendant A. W. Abrams a mining lease to a portion of the lands so allotted to her for the full term of 10 years from that date. Subsequently, and on the 23d day of May, 1905, said Minnie Redeagle executed and delivered to the Iowa & Oklahoma Mining Company a mining lease for the term of 10 years from that date on the same land embraced in the before-mentioned lease to A. W. Abrams. Afterwards, and on the 26th of September, 1906, Minnie Redeagle executed and delivered to said Iowa & Oklahoma Mining Company another mining lease covering the same land for a term of 10 years from that date. All of said leases were duly filed for record in the office of the register of deeds for said Ottawa county. Afterwards, and on the 21st day of March, 1910, said A. W. Abrams and the Iowa & Oklahoma Mining Company executed and delivered to said Minnie Redeagle a cancellation and surrender of each of the three before-mentioned...