Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Assn.

To extinguish the last group of conflicting claims to lands lying west of the Cascade Mountains and north of the Columbia River in what is now the State of Washington,1 the United States entered into a series of treaties with Indian *662tribes in 1854 and 1855.2 The Indians relinquished their interest in most of the Territory in exchange for monetary payments. In addition, certain relatively small parcels of land were reserved for their exclusive use, and they were afforded other guarantees, including protection of their “right of taking fish, at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations ...…