Heckman v. Sutter

ROSS, Circuit Judge.

The record in this case shows that for many years there was a small Indian settlement at a point on Tongass narrows, in Southeastern Alaska, where Ketchikan creek flows into the sea. The shore line there is in the form of a crescent, in front of which, at low tide, there is a sand and gravel beach alternately covered and uncovered by the flow and ebb of the tide. It was the custom of the Indians to fish for salmon at that place, as they were and still are found in great numbers at and about the point where the creek empties into the sea.

On the 17th day of May, 1884,…