Lone Wolf (chief) - The Case in The Supreme Court

The Case in The Supreme Court

William Springer was now aided by attorney Hampton Carson, whom was paid by the Indian Rights Association to assist Springer with the case in the Supreme Court. Springer and Hampton argued several points in the case. Up until this point, the United States had not taken Indian property without consent, the United States had always treated the right of occupancy the Indians possessed as sacred, the Canons of Construction must be followed in Indian law and the Court cannot interpret treaties in a way that prejudices the Indians, and due to treaties being the laws of the land and since the Medicine Lodge Treaty had created vested property rights in the KCA reservation lands, those lands were protected by the Constitution. Assistant Attorney General Willis Van Devanter argued on behalf of the United States and characterized the tribes as wards of the State. Justice Edward Douglass White, who wrote for the court on January 5, 1903, agreed. Due to the fact that Indians were seen as dependent nations and wards of the United States Congress had the right to abrogate a treaty with Indians if the provisions of the treaty went against the best interests of the United States. Justice White also relied on the last-in-time rule where a congressional statute that is the latest enactment may supersede a prior treaty and was the reason the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty could be abrogated. Justice White noted that the Court held that the appeal could not be decided in the courts of the United States but had to be made to Congress.