Kirby v. United States Ex Rel. Crow Tribe

Background

In 1916 the Crow Tribe’s reservation land was leased for two years to two men who posted a surety bond. The lease required a yearly rental of $31,950 and said the number of cattle would be limited to an average of 9,000 head per year, with no more than 11,500 at any one time, and that any excess would be paid at $4.50 per head. The lessees paid the minimum rent but refused to pay the extra sum claimed for cattle grazed beyond the agreed average. The United States sued for the tribe. The trial court found no excess in the first year but an excess equivalent to 6,968 head in the second year and awarded recovery; the court of appeals affirmed.

Reasoning

The Court read the lease as a whole and concluded the parties intended the 9,000 average to apply to each year because pasture is an annual resource and the rent was yearly. The 11,500 figure was a short-term cap at any one time, not a substitute for the annual limit. Therefore the $4.50 rate applied to grazing beyond the annual 9,000 average. The Court rejected arguments that grazing between 9,000 and 11,500 was only a trespass or that the average applied across the full two years. It also held the $4.50 charge was compensation for extra grazing, not a penalty, and treated the acts of the managing lessee as binding on both lessees.

Real world impact

The ruling allows the tribe to recover payment for cattle grazed over the yearly average and confirms that similar leases will be enforced by reading all terms together to determine annual allowances and extra charges.