John Hessin Clarke

“ Prior to August 16, 1877, bands of Indians of the Spokane and other tribes occupied, for hunting and fishing, the extensive territory now comprising the eastern part of the state of Washington, in which they had not then ceded to the United States any part of their rights. In the spring of that year certain of these Indian tribes commenced hostilities against the white settlers which resulted in war with the United States, in which they were urging the Spokane tribe, then at peace, to join. ”

“ Watkins is equally clear, and to hold that for want of a formal approval by the Secretary of the Interior, all of the conduct of the government and of the Indians in making and ratifying and in good faith carrying out the agreement between them, even to the extent of protecting the reservation by military forces from intrusion, is without effect, would be to subordinate the realities of the situation to mere form, for the delay in the issuing of the formal executive order of the President under the circumstances can be attributed only to the exigencies of the public business ”

“ The plaintiff in error is the successor in interest to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, and the defendant in error, substituted for the deceased defendant, George F. Wismer, claims to own the land in controversy by virtue of a homestead entry made in 1910, upon which a patent was issued in 1913. ”