Nadeau v. Union Pacific Railroad

Background

A railroad company accepted Congress’s 1862 law and built its line through land that had been the Pottawatomie Indian Reservation. Private claimants traced title to allotments and patents issued after 1862 to tribal members who had improvements there. A census was taken after July 1, 1862; commissioners made allotments in 1863, and the Interior Secretary approved allotments for the contested tracts on December 12, 1864. Some patents issued beginning June 14, 1867, did not expressly reserve a railroad right‑of‑way. The dispute arose over a 400‑foot strip the railroad claimed under the statutory grant.

Reasoning

The Court asked whether those reservation lands were 'public lands' under the Acts of July 1, 1862, and July 2, 1864, so that the railroad’s right‑of‑way would apply. It relied on earlier decisions that treated reservations under Congress’s control as public lands for this purpose. The Court explained the grant was present and absolute when the route was identified, took effect as of the 1862 Act, and thus covered anyone who later acquired the land. Because no individual title arose until allotments after 1862, the Court rejected adverse‑possession and later‑patent claims and affirmed the lower court’s judgment for the railroad.

Real world impact

The ruling lets the railroad keep and use the 200‑foot strip on each side of the track through the former reservation and prevents private claimants who received allotments and patents after 1862 from defeating that statutory right. People who bought land through later conveyances take subject to the earlier congressional grant. The opinion also notes that three Justices did not participate in the decision.

Dissents or concurrances

One Justice (Clarke) dissented; the opinion does not state his reasoning.