United States v. Creek Nation

What happened

By a treaty of 1833 and a patent, the United States conveyed to the Creek Tribe of Indians, in fee simple, a large tract of land. By a treaty of 1866 the Creeks ceded half of the tract. The United States promised to survey the dividing line and guaranteed the Creeks quiet possession of the other part.

The survey was made in 1871. Then, by an error of the Land Department, part of the land the Creeks had kept was included in 1872-73 in the survey of a tract assigned to the Sac and Fox Indians under an 1867 treaty. Later the Sac and Fox lands were receded to the United States under the Act of February 13, 1891. The Creek lands surveyed with them were wrongly assumed to be part of that recession. They were disposed of, partly by allotments to the Sacs and Foxes and partly by sales to settlers, by patents signed by the President. The United States kept the proceeds.

The Creek Nation sued in the Court of Claims, and on April 29, 1935 the Supreme Court ruled in its favor on the principle of compensation. Justice Van Devanter wrote for the Court. It held that the taking was accomplished by the disposals under the 1891 Act, not by the erroneous survey, and that compensation should be based on the land's value at the time of the disposals, with reasonable interest added. Citing the parties' past agreements, the Court set a reasonable rate at 5 percent.

The Court also stated that "Property of an Indian Tribe under guardianship of the United States cannot constitutionally be appropriated by the United States without just compensation."

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error