United States v. Juan Martinez

• Citation: 195 U.S. 469,25 S.Ct. 80,49 L.Ed. 282
• Decision Date: 05 December 1904
• Docket Number: No. 15,15
• Parties: UNITED STATES and the Kiowa Indians, Appts. , v. JUAN B. MARTINEZ, Administrator of Julio Martinez, Deceased
• Court: United States Supreme Court

195 U.S. 469

25 S.Ct. 80

49 L.Ed. 282

UNITED STATES and the Kiowa Indians, Appts.,

v JUAN B. MARTINEZ, Administrator of Julio Martinez, Deceased.

No. 15.

Argued October 21, 24, 1904.

Decided December 5, 1904.

This action was brought in the court of claims on October 24, 1891, to recover damages against the United States and the Utetribe of Indians, in the sum of $1,400, the value of certain sheep alleged to have been taken and destroyed or used in June, 1873, by the said Indians. The petition was filed under the provisions of the act of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to Provide for the Adjudication and Payment of Claims Arising from Indian Depredations." 26 Stat. at L. 851, chap. 538 U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 758. On February 5, 1902, the Assistant Attorney General of the United States answered the allegations of the peti- tion by a general denial. On November 4, 1902, the claimant filed a motion for leave to file an amended petition, charging the depredation to have been committed by the Kiowa Indians, which motion was allowed, and upon the same day the amended petition was filed. On November 5, 1902, the Assistant Attorney General, appearing on behalf of the United States and the Kiowa Indians, filed a plea to the amended petition, setting up that no action had been commenced against the Kiowa Indians within three years after the passage of the act of March 3, 1891. On November 11, 1902, this plea in bar was overruled, and, upon the general issue being pleaded and trial had, the court found as a matter of fact: At the time of the depredation the claimant's decedent was a citizen of the United States. In June, 1873, in Mora county, New Mexico, Indians belonging to the Kiowa tribe took and drove away property of the kind and character described in the petition, the property of claimant's decedent, which was reasonably worth the sum of $690. At the time of said depredation defendant Indians were in amity with the United States.

As a conclusion of law, the majority of the court decided that the claimant recover a judgment against the United States and the Kiowa Indians, in the sum of $690.

The defendants appealed to this court.

Mr. Lincoln B. Smith, by special leave, and Assistant Attorney General Thompson for appellants.

[Argument of Counsel from page 470 intentionally omitted] Mr. William H. Robeson for appellee.

[Argument of Counsel from page 471 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Day delivered the opinion of the court:

This claim arises under the Indian depredation act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. at L. 851, chap. 538, U. S.Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 758), and presents the question whether, after the expiration of three years from the filing of the petition in the court of claims, a tribe of Indians not originally named in the petition can be brought into the action by amended petition, with a view to proceeding against such tribe to judgment. The record discloses that the original petition was filed on October 24, 1891; the amended petition on November 4, 1902. The Attorney General filed a plea setting up the bar of the statute, which plea was overruled, and thereafter, upon issue joined and testimony taken, judgment was rendered against the tribe of Indians so brought in by the amended petition.

The act in question was before this court in United States v. Gorham, 165 U. S. 316, 41 L. ed. 729, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 382, and in that case it was held that, where the Indian tribe cannot be identified, a judgment for the amount of the claim can be rendered against the United States. In the opinion of the court in that case, the act was analyzed and its various sections construed; and it only remains to consider so much of the act and its purposes as will lead to a solution of the question now under consideration.

The provisions of the 1st section of the act are positive, that all claims existing at the time of the taking effect of the act shall be presented to the court by petition, as therein provided, within three years after the passage of the act, or be forever barred. This section, by itself considered, would seem to conclude the right of the petitioner to bring in a new party to the preceeding after the expiration of three years, in such wise as to preclude the right to rely upon the bar of the statute. For obvious reasons, a party brought into court by an amendment, and who has, for the first time, an opportunity to make defense to the action, has a right to treat the proceeding, as to him, as commenced by the process which brings him into court. Miller v. M'Intyre, 6 Pet. 61, 8 L. ed. 320. Conceding this proposition as applied to ordinary actions, it is urged that this proceeding is so peculiar in character as to take it out of the general rule. Section 3 of the act provides:

"That all claims shall be presented to the court by petition, setting forth in ordinary and concise language, without unnecessary repetition, the facts upon which such claims are based, the persons, classes of persons, tribe or tribes or band of Indians by whom the alleged illegal acts were committed, as near as may be, the property lost or destroyed and the value thereof, and any other facts connected with the transactions, and material to the proper adjudication of the case involved."

The 5th section of the statute provides:

"That the court shall determine, in each case, the value of the property taken or destroyed at the time and place of the loss or destruction, and, if possible, the tribe of Indians or other persons by whom the wrong was committed, and shall render judgment in favor of the claimant or claimants against the United States, and against the tribe of Indians committing the wrong, when such can be identified."

Section 4 provides for service upon the Attorney General, whose duty it is to appear and defend for both the interests of the government and the Indians, and giving to any Indian or Indians interested in the proceedings the right to appear and defend by an attorney employed with the approval of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. By the 6th section the amount of the judgment is charged against the tribe by which or the members of which the depredation was committed; and if no annuity, fund, or appropriation is available as provided, the judgment is to be paid from the treasury of the United States, to remain a charge against the tribe, and to be deducted from any annuity, fund, or appropriation thereafter due from the United States to such tribe. It is contended that, inasmuch as the Indian tribes are not necessary parties to the proceeding, and are not required to be served with process except so far as the notice to the Attorney General is such service, and are only to be described "as near as may be," they may be brought in at any time before judgment, whenever such tribe "can be identified," as set forth in the 5th section of the act. The reasons for this conclusion are fully set forth in the opinion of the court of claims in Duran v. United States, 31 Ct. Cl. 353. But we are unable to concur in the conclusions therein reached. In our view, the act provides for a recovery of depredation claims in two classes of cases: the one where the persons, classes of persons, tribe or tribes or band of Indians cannot be identified, in which event the United States may be held liable, upon proof complying with other terms of the act, though failing to identify the particular depredators; the other, where the persons or tribe described in the act can be identified, in which event they must be named in the petition, and the judgment will go against the United States and the tribe committing the wrong, to be satisfied primarily out of the funds of the Indians. As was said in the Gorham Case, 165 U. S. 321, 41 L. ed. 731, 17 Sup. Ct. Rep. 384: "It may be fairly claimed that, reading all the provisions together, the act makes it necessary, when known, to join with the United States the Indians or tribe of Indians by whom the illegal acts are alleged or are supposed to have been committed.'

Whichever form the action takes, it must be brought within three years after the passage of the act, as provided by the 1st section. In requiring the band or tribe of Indians to be described as near as may be, it is the purpose of the act to require such tribe, primarily liable for the injury, to be brought before the court, when they can be identified, for the purpose of the judgment authorized in the 5th section. All the sections are to be read together to...