West v. Oklahoma Tax Commission

This appeal concerns the power of the State of Oklahoma to levy an inheritance tax on the estate of a restricted Osage Indian. Specifically, the problem is whether property held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the Indian may be included within the taxable estate.

Charles West, Jr., was a restricted, full-blood, unallot-ted, adult Osage Indian. He died intestate in 1940, a resident of Oklahoma. No certificate of competency was ever issued to him. Surviving him was his. mother, appellant herein, who is a restricted, full-blood Osage Indian. The entire estate passed to her as the…