Thomas Todd

“ In the construction of the statutory or local laws of a state, it is frequently necessary to recur to the history and situation of the country, in order to ascertain the reason, as well as the meaning, of many of the provisions in them, to enable a court to apply, with propriety, the different rules for construing statutes. ”

“ From the preamble of the act, as well as other parts of it, it is clearly discernible that the legislature intended 'to parcel out their vacant lands to industrious people, for the settlement thereof, and increasing the strength and number of the people of the country, and affording a comfortable and easy subsistence for families.' Would these objects be attained by permitting settlements encroaching on the lands lately set apart, by treaty, for the use of the Indian tribes? ”

“ However broad and extensive the words of the act may be, authorizing the entry takers of any county to receive claims for any lands lying in such county, under certain restrictions, yet, from the whole context of the act, the legislative intention, to prohibit and restrict entries from being made on lands reserved for Indian tribes, may be discerned. ”