Case Summary

In the spring of 1875, John Gordon led a group of nearly 140 colonists from Sioux City, Iowa into northern Nebraska with the intention of eventually settling in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He was arrested by U.S. military authorities for violating an order against trespassing on "unceded Indian territory" belonging to the Sioux and consequently confined at Camp Sheridan. Military authorities offered to release him if he agreed in writing not to continue with his plans, but he refused, demanding a civil trial. Gordon then petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that he and his fellow colonists had not actually crossed into Indian territory. Judge Elmer Dundy agreed, writing an opinion declaring that the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie did not reserve any land within the state of Nebraska to the Sioux. He ordered that General Crook turn Gordon over to the U.S. marshal for Nebraska to be dealt with according to civil law.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Institutional

Petition subtype(s)

• Violation of military order

Sites of significance

• Camp Sheridan (Unspecified, Nebraska)

Outcome

Writ allowed

Fate of bound party

Custody transferred to third party

Case Citation

Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009, U.S. District Court for the Omaha Division of the District of Nebraska, Series: Criminal Dockets, 1867-1959, Vol. D, p. 102; Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009, U.S. District Court for the Omaha Division of the District of Nebraska. (2/27/1907- ), Series: Criminal Case Files, 1867-1983, Box 3, No. D-102

Source material(s)

Docket | Case File

Length of case file

Between 76 and 100 pages

Repository(s)

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

State

• Nebraska

Point(s) of law cited

“An act to establish peace with certain hostile tribes of Indians,” July 20, 1867|Treaty with the Sioux at Fort Laramie, April 29, 1868|Section 2147 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 2150 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 2151 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 2125 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 2148 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|Section 2124 of the Revised Statutes of the United States|Vol. 15 U.S. Laws, p. 17|Vol. 15 U.S. Laws, p. 635|Ex parte McDonald 9 Am L.R. 661

Tag(s)

• Indian reservation

People

• Gordon, John (petitioner)
• Crook, George (respondent)
• Baldwin, C. A. (petitioner attorney)
• Smythe, E. F. (petitioner attorney)
• Burnham, Horace Blois (respondent attorney)
• Dundy, Sr., Elmer Scipio (judge)
• Mills, Anson (authority ordering detention)
• Gordon, John (bound party)
• Crook, George (responding party)
• Crook, George (holding party)

• Additional parties

  Sherman, William Tecumseh (Commanding General of the U.S. Army)

  Sheridan, Philip H. (U.S. Army General)

  Grant, William S. (President of the United States)

  Smith, Watson B. (clerk)

  Bradley, L. P. (U.S. Army Colonel)

  Sawyer, (U.S. Army Colonel)

  Walker, Fergus (U.S. Army Captain)

  Felt, L. H. (deputy clerk)

  Evans, Fred F. (colonizer)

  Brocket, J. W. (colonizer)

  Henn, Ed (colonizer)

  Williams, J. R. (colonizer)

  Hoculsough, L. (colonizer)

  Leonard, J. H. (colonizer)

  Janus, Robert (colonizer)

  Higgins, J. R. (colonizer)

  Webster, Henry G. (colonizer)

  Sauben, B. (colonizer)

  Brighain, F. P. (colonizer)

  Hopkins, A. (colonizer)

  Drier, T. D. (colonizer)

  Houghs, John (colonizer)

  Boldue, Frank (colonizer)

  McGuinn, Phil (colonizer)

  Berniger, N. H. (colonizer)

  Menor, A. (colonizer)

  Williams, H. T. (colonizer)

  Mock, J. R. (colonizer)

  Wodery, Henry (colonizer)

  Keiry, W. W. (colonizer)

  Bearr, William (colonizer)

  Kellog, William (colonizer)

  Wilcox, W. W. (colonizer)

  Daily, William (U.S. marshal)

  Culbertson, Samuel (deputy U.S. marshal)

  Bowen, William R. (notary public)

  Terry, Alfred (U.S. Army General)

  Ord, E. O. C. (U.S. Army General)

  Delano, C. (U.S. Secretary of the Interior)

  Belknap, W. W. (U.S. Secretary of War)

  Nickerson, A. H. (U.S. Army Captain)

  Ruggles, George D. (assistant adjutant general)

  Whipple, W. D. (assistant adjutant general)

  Drum, R. C. (assistant adjutant general)

  Townsend, E. D. (adjutant general)