The Palmer and Stevens “Usual and Accustomed Places” Treaties in the Opinions of the Courts

Authors

Charles D. Bernholz, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Robert Weiner, Syracuse University College of LawFollow

Date of this Version

September 2008

Comments

Published in Government Information Quarterly 25 (2008), pp. 778 –795; doi 10.1016/j.giq.2007.10.004 Copyright © 2007 Elsevier Inc. Used by permission. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0740624X

Abstract

One hundred fifty years ago, Joel Palmer, as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Oregon Territory, and Isaac I. Stevens, as Governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs of the Washington Territory, negotiated a series of treaties with tribes of the Pacific Northwest. These 10 instruments have affected the gathering rights of tribes and of others in this area and throughout the United States and have generated a substantial amount of litigation. This article reports on the 512 citations to these specific documents in 354 opinions, between the years 1874 and 2005, in various jurisdictions ranging from territorial courts to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Includes supplemental data table (27 pages).