D. Q. (Bill) Couch v. Stewart L. Udall, Secretary of the Interior, Department of Interior, United States of America

HICKEY, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment wherein the trial court denied appellant D. Q. Couch’s request to reverse an administrative decision of the appel-lee, Secretary of the Interior, in an Indian probate proceeding.

The facts are not in dispute. An Indian allottee under the General Allotment Act 1 held a patent on the land in question. She died testate while residing in Oklahoma. Her will was approved by an Examiner of Inheritance and distribution was ordered to her beneficiaries who were Mexican nationals. Based upon the nationality of the Indian heirs, the examiner…