Conners v. United States

Background

Nearly a thousand Northern Cheyenne were moved from a Nebraska reservation to a reservation in the Indian Territory. Two smaller groups led by Dull Knife and Little Wolf separated and repeatedly asked to return northwest. When more than three hundred left the reservation, troops from Fort Reno were sent to bring them back without force if possible. The band was overtaken about 120 miles away, ordered to return, and replied they would rather die than go back. Troops fired, the band fought and fled across Kansas and Nebraska, fought soldiers and armed citizens, and surrendered on October 3, 1878. The claimant’s property was taken or destroyed on October 1, 1878.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether the original tribe or the United States should be held responsible for those losses. It relied on the Court of Claims’ detailed findings. The Court concluded the breakaway group was acting independently and, from the moment troops fired, was in hostility to the United States. Because that band had separated and waged armed resistance, the original tribe was not in control and could not be held liable for the band’s raids. The Court also said the claim did not establish a case against the United States under the statute giving the Court of Claims its power.

Real world impact

The decision leaves people harmed by those raids without recovery from the tribe’s funds, and it rejects a statutory claim against the United States on these facts. The opinion suggests that relief for victims would be a matter for Congress rather than a court order against the tribe. The Court declined to examine whether the troops’ actions helped provoke the violence, focusing instead on the band’s independence and hostility.