Case Summary

In October 1895, William Garrett and John Meyers were arrested on the Winnebago Reservation in northeastern Nebraska and indicted on multiple counts including obstruction and assault. Both men paid a $500 bond and were released. The pair were involved with the Flournoy Live Stock and Real Estate Company, which had been illegally leasing Reservation land, and had resisted the efforts of the US government, including Winnebago police officers, to evict them. After having been released on bail but before their trial date, Garrett and Meyers petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted. They claimed that the Winnebago Reservation had been effectively dissolved and that federal authorities had no jurisdiction to arrest them on state land. The respondents countered that the Reservation remained, that federal authorities retained jurisdiction, and that, in any case, Garrett and Meyers were not being detained. After hearing the evidence, the writ was denied and the petitioners ordered to pay the costs.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

• Obstructing a us officer
• Delaying the execution of us law
• Assault with a deadly weapon

Sites of significance

• Winnebago Reservation (Winnebago Reservation, Nebraska)

Outcome

Writ denied

Fate of bound party

Not in custody

Case Citation

Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009, U.S. Circuit Court for the Omaha Division of the District of Nebraska , Series: Appearance Dockets, 1867 - 1915, Vol. 17, p. 209; Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009, U.S. Circuit Court for the Omaha Division of the District of Nebraska. (1867-1/1/1912), Series: Chancery, Criminal, Equity and Law Cases, 3/30/1867-12/26/1911, No. R-209

Source material(s)

Docket | Case File

Length of case file

Between 41 and 50 pages

Repository(s)

• National Archives and Records Administration, Kansas City (Kansas City, Kansas)

State

• Nebraska

Point(s) of law cited

Section 5398 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 2147 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 5336 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 5298 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|1865 Treaty with the Winnebago|“Act of Congress of February 8, 1887” regarding Indian reservations|Pilgrim et al. vs. Beck et al (D. Neb 1895)|“section 5 of Rule 246 prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior for the government of the Indian office”|“chapter one hundred and sixty-four of the laws of the first session of the Fifty-second Congress, passed on the thirteenth day of July, 1892”|“Act of Congress approved February 28, 1891 (26 Stats., 795)

Tag(s)

• Indian reservation

People

• Garrett, William S. (bound party)
• Meyers, John F. (bound party)
• Beck, William H. (respondent)
• St. Cyr, David (respondent)
• Shiras, Oliver P. (judge)
• Brome, Harrison Crosby (petitioner attorney)
• Burnett, Arthur H. (petitioner attorney)
• Jones, R. A. (petitioner attorney)
• Sawyer, Andrew J. (respondent attorney)
• Breckenridge, R. W. (respondent attorney)
• Londrosh, Ashley (authority ordering detention)
• Garrett, William S. (petitioner)
• Meyers, John F. (petitioner)
• Beck, William H. (responding party)
• St. Cyr, David (responding party)

• Additional parties

  Breneman, J. W. (surety)

  McHirron, H. C. (surety)

  Pelkey, John (witness, Winnebago, “Indian police”)

  Hinman, Louis (witness, Winnebago, police)

  French, Jr., Henry (witness, Winnebago, police)

  Seymour, James (witness, Winnebago, police)

  Fisher, James (witness, Winnebago, police)

  Frank, Elmer D. (clerk)

  Dundy, Jr., E. S. (deputy clerk)

  Peebles, W. E. (surety)

  Maryott, A. L. (surety)

  Chase, Hiram (Thurston County judge)

  White, Frank E. (US marshal)

  Coggeshall, A. E. (deputy US marshal)

  Bittinger, R. R. (deputy clerk)

  Fuller, Melville W. (Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court)

  Pilgrim, Robert (litigant, settler)

  Cleveland, Grover (US President)

  Schofield, (US Major General)

  Williams, R. (US Adjutant General)

  Volkner, William J. (US Assistant Adjutant General)

  Partick [sic], (agent of the Sac and Fox Agency)

  Junkin, (inspector)

  Browning, Daniel M. (Commissioner of Indian Affairs)

  Smith, Thomas P. (Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs)