Charles Evans Hughes

“ The authority of the United States to enforce the restraint lawfully created cannot be impaired by any action without its consent. Heckman v. United States, supra p. 445. If, therefore, the conveyance by the allottee's heirs in the present case, would otherwise have been subject to cancelation, it was not saved by reason of the judgment entered in their suit against the purchaser.
The question, then, is whether the restriction imposed by the act of 1889 was a merely personal one, operative only upon the allottee, or ran with the land, binding his heirs as well. ”

“ It necessarily follows that, as a transfer of the allotted lands contrary to the inhibition of Congress would be a violation of the governmental rights of the United States arising from its obligation to a dependent people, no stipulations, contracts, or judgments rendered in suits to which the government is a stranger can affect its interest. ”

“ The restriction was not limited to 'the lifetime of the allottee,' as in Mullen v. United States, 224 U.S. 448, 453, 56 L. ed. 834, 839, 32 Sup. Ct. Rep. 494, nor was the prohibition directed against conveyances made by the allottee personally. Congress explicitly provided that 'the land so allotted' should not be subject to alienation for twenty-five years from the date of patent. ”