Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock

What happened

By the Medicine Lodge treaty of 1867, the Kiowa and Comanche Indians, later joined by the Apaches, held a reservation in common in what became Oklahoma. Article 12 said that no treaty ceding any part of it would be valid against the Indians unless signed by at least three fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying it.

On October 6, 1892, 456 male adult members of the confederated tribes signed an agreement with three commissioners of the United States about the reservation. The Indian agent certified that there were 562 male adults in the three tribes. Congress later passed the act of June 6, 1900 to carry out the agreement, allot land to tribal members and open surplus lands to settlement.

On June 6, 1901, Lone Wolf, suing for himself and for all members of the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache tribes, filed a bill in equity in Washington. It charged that the agreement had not been signed by three fourths of the adult males, and that Congress had made changes without submitting them to the Indians.

The Supreme Court affirmed the lower courts' decision against Lone Wolf. It said "Congress has always exercised plenary authority over the tribal relations of the Indians" and that the power is political, "not subject to be controlled by the judicial department." The Court said a moral obligation rested on Congress to act in good faith, but it would presume Congress acted in perfect good faith, and the courts could not inquire into its motives.

Good to know. The 456-of-562 signature figures come from the statement of the case; the Court did not itself decide whether three-fourths had signed.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error