United States v. Fort Sill Apache Tribe of the State of Oklahoma

This decision means that the United States, having lost the crucial battle, nevertheless wins the war. As the court points out, the Government was well aware for a very long time that these Indians were claiming both the value of the land as of the extinguishment of Indian title (which they said occurred in 1886) and also “trespass damages” for minerals removed before that date. Despite this clear knowledge, “in the proceedings below [before the Indian Claims Commission] at no time did defendant-appellant {"the Government] properly propose its alternative theories of the date of taking when…