Printed Books & Early American Photography, including Selections from the Larry Ness Collection

Court of Claims record for The Klamath & Moadoc Tribes and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians vs. The United States, an important judgement upholding the claims of the named tribes related to their reservation lands. Washington, D.C., 14 November 1938. 1p, approx. 7 3/4 x 12 in. (creasing at folds, scattered ink residue, light soil). Embossed "Court of Claims" seal at bottom left.

At a Court of Claims held in the City of Washington, on 22 June 1937, judgement was ordered to be entered as follows: "It is adjudged and ordered that the plaintiffs, The Klamath and Moadoc Tribes and Yashooskin Band of Snake Indians, recover of and from the United States five million three hundred thirteen thousand three hundred forty-seven dollars and thirty-two cents ($5,313,347.32) with interest at 5% per annum on $2,871,250. from June 7, 1937, to date of payment."

The Klamath Indian Reservation in Oregon was created by the Treaty of October 14, 1864, for the Klamath and Modoc Tribes and the Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians. The case Klamath & Moadoc Tribes v. United States case centered on the interpretation of a 1920 jurisdictional act that allowed the tribes to sue for compensation for approximately 87,000 acres of land that had been previously appropriated by the government. In 1938 this case went to the United States Supreme Court which affirmed that the government had the right to take the land via eminent domain and that the tribes were entitled to compensation based on the land's value at the time of the taking. The case was litigated in part by Daniel Brosius Henderson (1862-1940), an attorney who dedicated most of his legal career to advocating on behalf of America's Native peoples.