Ex parte Dick

141 F. 5, 72 C.C.A. 667, 1905 U.S. App. LEXIS 3984
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedOctober 2, 1905
DocketNo. 1,236
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 141 F. 5 (Ex parte Dick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex parte Dick, 141 F. 5, 72 C.C.A. 667, 1905 U.S. App. LEXIS 3984 (9th Cir. 1905).

Opinion

MORROW, Circuit Judge.

The petitioner was convicted in the United States District Court for the Northern Division of Idaho at the May term, 1905, upon an indictment charging him with the crime of introducing intoxicating liquors into the Indian country, to wit, into and upon the Nez Perce reservation, in the county of Nez Perce, in the state of Idaho, in violation of section 2139 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended by the act of January 30, 1897, c. 109, 29 Stat. 506. The petition for the writ of habeas corpus and certiorari was presented to this court during its recent session in Seattle, and after consideration a writ of certiorari was directed to issue returnable at Portland, to bring up a transcript of the record and proceedings in the case.

The petitioner challenges the jurisdiction of the trial court on the ground that the act of the petitioner, which is made the basis of the charge, namely, that he introduced intoxicating liquors into the Indian country, was not committed in the Indian country, but in the village of Cul de Sac, a municipal corporation organized under the laws of the state of Idaho. The petitioner is a Umatilla Indian, who has received an allotment of land in severalty.

The act of January 30,1897, provides as follows:

“That any person who shall sell, give away, dispose of, exchange, or barter any malt, spirituous, or vinous liquor of any kind whatsoever, or any essence, extract, bitters, preparation, compound, composition, or any article whatsoever, under any name, label, or brand, which produces intoxication, to any Indian to whom allotment of land has been made while the title to the same shall be held in trust by the government, or to any Indian a ward of the government under charge of any Indian superintendent or agent, or any Indian, including mixed bloods, over whom the government, through its departments, exercises guardianship, and any person who shall introduce or attemnt to introduce any malt, spirituous, or vinous liquor, including [6]*6beer, ale, and wine, or any ardent or intoxicating liquor of any kind whatsoever, into the Indian country, which term shall include any Indian allotment while the title to the same shall be held in trust by the government, or while the same shall remain inalienable by the allottee without the consent of the United States, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than sixty days, and by a fine of not less than -one hundred dollars for the first offense and not less than two hundred dollars for each offense thereafter : Provided, however, that the person convicted shall be committed until fine and costs are paid. But it shall be a sufficient defense to any charge of introducing or attempting to introduce ardent spirits, ale, beer, wine, or intoxicating liquors into the Indian country, that the acts charged were done under authority, in writing, from the War Department or any officer duly authorized thereunto by the War Department.” 29 Stat. 506.

Act Feb. 8, 1887, c. 119, 24 Stat. 388, authorized the President to allot lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations, whenever in his opinion any reservation or any part thereof would be advantageous for agricultural and grazing purposes. Section 6 of the act provided as follows:

“That upon the completion of said allotments and the patenting of the lands to said allottees, each and every member of the respective bands or tribes of Indians to whom allotments have been made shall have the benefit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of the State or Territory in which they may reside; and no territory shall pass or enforce any law denying any such Indian within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. And every Indian born within the territorial limits of the United States to whom allotments shall have been made under the provisions of this Act, or under any law or treaty, and every Indian born within the territorial limits of the United States who has voluntarily taken up, within said limits, his residence separate and apart from any tribe of Indians therein, and has adopted the habits of civilized life, and every Indian in Indian Territory, is hereby declared to be a citizen of the United States, and is entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of such citizens, whether said Indian has been or not, by birth or otherwise, a member of any tribe of Indians within the territorial limits of the United States without in any manner impairing or otherwise affecting the right of any sueh Indian to tribal or other property.” 24 Stat. 390.

Pursuant to this act, the President authorized negotiations with the Nez Perce Indians in Idaho for the cession to the United States of certain of their lands in that state, and thereupon an agreement was entered into between commissioners of the United States appointed for that purpose and the principal men and other male adults of the tribe for such cession. This agreement was dated May 1,1893. It provides in article 1 for the cession, relinquishment, and conveyance to the United States by the Nez Perce Indians of all their claim, right, title, and interest in and to all the unallotted lands within the limits of the Nez Perce Reservation, saving and excepting certain described tracts of land which are retained by the Indians. It is provided in article 9 as follows:

“It is further agreed that the lands by this agreement ceded, those retained, and those allotted to the said Nez Perce Indians, shall be subject, for a period of twenty-five years, to all the laws of the United States prohibiting the introduction of intoxicants into the Indian country, and that the Nez Perce Indian allottees, whether under the care of an Indian agent or not, shall, for a like period, be subject to all the laws of the United States prohibiting the sale or other disposition of intoxicants to Indians.” Act Aug. 15, 1894, c. 290, 28 Stat. 330.

[7]*7It is under the terms of this agreement contained in article 9 that the petitioner is charged with having introduced intoxicating liquors into the Indian country. The village of Cul de Sac is located upon the land ceded by the Indians to the United States, about seven or eight miles from the exterior boundary of the Indian school reservation, and no reservation or any part of a reservation used for government purposes or for Indian purposes is within the boundaries of such village. Prior to the transaction involved in this case the title to the lands upon which the village of Cul de Sac is located had passed from the United States by patent under the townsite laws to the probate judge of Nez Perce county, Idaho, in trust for the inhabitants of the village.

There is no question as to the plenary authority of Congress over the tribal relations of the Indians. Such authority has been exercised by Congress from the beginning, and the power has always been deemed a political one, not subject to be controlled by the judicial department of the government. Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, 187 U. S. 565, 23 Sup. Ct. 216, 47 L. Ed. 299. But the question involved in the present case does not relate to the tribal affairs of the Nez Perce Indians.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
141 F. 5, 72 C.C.A. 667, 1905 U.S. App. LEXIS 3984, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-dick-ca9-1905.