United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

United States v. Atkins, 260 U.S. 220 (1922)

United States v. Atkins

Nos. 45, 46

Argued October 11, 12, 1922

Decided November 20, 1922

260 U.S. 220

Syllabus

An act of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes in enrolling a name as that of a Creek Indian alive on April 1, 1899, amounted, when duly approved by the Secretary of the Interior, to a judgment in an adversary proceeding, establishing the existence of the individual and his right to membership, and is not subject to be attacked by the United States in a suit against those who claim his land allotment, in which the government alleges that the person enrolled never existed and that the enrollment was procured by fraud on the Commission and resulted from gross mistake of law and fact. P. 260 U. S. 224.

268 F.9d 3 affirmed.

Appeals from a decree of the circuit court of appeals affirming a decree of the district court in a suit brought by the United States upon the grounds of fraud and mistake to cancel an enrollment on the Creek tribal roll and an allotment certificate and patent issued thereunder,

Page 260 U. S. 221

and to quiet the title to the land so allotted in the United States and the Creek Nation, as against the defendants and interveners, who claimed under such enrollment and allotment. The district court dismissed the bill, quoad the United States, and adjudicated the title as between the other parties.

Page 260 U. S. 223