Abstract
In the absence of any real community of treaty rights holders or of any Congressional, General Land Office or Office of Indian Affairs directions, groups of speculators and leaders of the Church of Latter Day Saints took it upon themselves to carve up the Iowa Half Breed Tract. The group that eventually managed to apportion the Tract did so through the Iowa territorial courts, creating fictional shares in a commons—the Tract—and allocating the bulk to an investment syndicate they had formed that had already been buying “shares” in the Tract from supposed rights holders. The legal process was rife with conflicts of interest, which were eventually condemned by the US Supreme Court, although it did not nullify the division and allocation of land on the Tract.
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Notes
- 1.
Virginia Wilcox Ivins, Yesterdays: Reminiscences of Long Ago, Keokuk, Iowa, 1924, p. 5; Thomas Ford, History of Illinois, p. 286; Lyndon W. Cook, “Isaac Galland, Mormon Benefactor,” BYU Studies, vol. 19, (1979) p. 262 n. 8; The Edgar County, Illinois, Order Book No. 1, pp. 22, 29, 49, 65, shows Margaret Galland’s efforts to obtain a divorce; the case was dismissed in October 1827, p. 93. For his marriage to Elizabeth Wilcox, daughter of the commander of Fort Edwards, see Hancock County (Illinois) Marriage Records Book 1829–1849, p. 3.
- 2.
The characterization of Galland is Gov. Thomas Ford’s, in History of Illinois, p. 286.
- 3.
Isaac Campbell, “Letter” in History of Lee County, p. 333.
- 4.
Webster v. Reid, 52 US 437, 442 (1850); Lee County Deed Book 1, pp. 12, 17, 29, 59, 157, 277, 307, 325, 424, 507–509, Deed Book 2, pp. 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 16. Reid’s observations are from J.M. Reid, Sketches and Recollections of the Old Settlers and New Comers, the Mormon Bandits Danite Band, Keokuk, 1876, pp. 66–67.
- 5.
Claims under 1824 Sac and Fox Treaty, United States Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, St. Louis, Missouri, Vol. 32, pp. 18–24, 34, 53, 55, 56, 58, 59, 64, 67–68, 70–72, 77–79, 81–85. The thirty-eight claimants reported in 1830 are listed in Thomas Forsyth to William Clark, 8 June 1830. Ibid., pp. 14–18. De Louis’ declaration is in De Louis et al. v. Meek et al. 2 Greene 55 at 56 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1849). Cardinell’s situation is described in Coy v. Mason, 58 US 580 at 581 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1855), and the Delaimes’ in Powell v. Spaulding, 3 Greene 443 at 452 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1852).
- 6.
Wright v. Marsh, Lee and Delevan, 2 Greene 94 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1849); Isaac Galland to Samuel Swasey, 22 July 1839, cited in Cook, “Isaac Galland, Mormon Benefactor,” p. 276. Iowa Stake, Record. / Iowa Stake. “Church Record,” 1840–1841. Church Historical Library, Salt Lake City, LR 7817 21. Reid, Sketches and Recollections of the Old Settlers, p. 35. Galland to Joseph Smith (appended to returned copy of Smith to Galland, 17 January 1842), cited in Cook, “Isaac Galland Mormon Benefactor:, p. 280; Joseph Smith (B.C. Roberts, editor), History of the Church, Salt Lake City, 1902, vol 4, p. 498; “Church Record,” 1840–1841, and Minutes of a Conference Held in Zarahemla, 6 Jan. 1842, Joseph Smith Papers, Minutes of a Conference Held in Zarahemla, 6 Jan. 1842. Elias Smith, Papers, 1834–1846. Church Historical Library, Salt Lake City, MS 7062, fd. 5.
- 7.
Barney v. Chittenden et al. 2 Greene 165, 173 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1849).
- 8.
B.L. Wick, “The Struggle for the Half Breed Tract,” Annals of Iowa, Vol. 7, 1905, p. 22; “An act to provide for the partition of real property,” Statutes of Iowa p. 458, cited in Webster v. Reid, 522 US 437, 438.
- 9.
“An act to provide for the partition of real property,” Statutes of Iowa p. 458.The Half Breed Tract accounted for about half the area of the newly formed Lee County.
- 10.
Wick, ‘Struggle,” p, 27; De Louis v. Meek, 2 Greene 55; Iowa Laws of 1840, p. 19, sections 1 and 2.
- 11.
“Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa,” Annals of Iowa, Third Series, Vol. 14, No. 5, (Fall, 1924) pp. 424–460; Edward Stiles, Recollections and Sketches of Notable Lawyers and Public Men of Early Iowa, Des Moines, 1916, pp. 327–328.
- 12.
Spalding v. Antaya, Half Breed Record, Lee County (court case records for the court terms of 1839, 1840 and 1841), pp. 156, 175; “Petition to clarify the half-breed land parcel,” p. 7; Affidavit of Keokuk February 4 1834, Affidavit of Denis Courtois, March 8, 1834, Claims under 1824 Sac and Fox Treaty, United States Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, St. Louis, Missouri, Vol. 32, pp. 60–61, 67–68; “Decree in Partition,” p. 452 notes that Euphrosine Antaya did not appear in court. She sold her Half Breed Tract lands between 1847 and 1850; Lee County Deed Book Vol. 8, pp., 8, 16, 329; Deed Book Vol 9, pp. 583–584 and Deed Book Vol. 10, pp. 135, 260–262, 272–275 and 615–616.
- 13.
Charles Mason, “Decree of Partition,” Annals of Iowa, Third Series, Vol. 14, No 5, (Fall, 1924) pp. 424–460; Wright v. Marsh, 2 Greene 94, at 99–100. De Louis v. Meek, 2 Greene 55 at 59.
- 14.
De Louis v. Meek, 2 Greene 55, at 59, 60.
- 15.
The seven treaty rights holders whose shares were confirmed were Euphrosine Antaya, of Prairie du Chien, Margaret Farrar, of Jo Daviess County, Illinois; Augustus Gonville (who sold his share in 1839, Lee County Deed Book 1, p. 39) Eliza Johnson Perkins, Mary Johnson Murdock and Rosella Johnson O’Glenn, all of Saint Louis, and James Muir. Eliza Perkins sold her interest and that of her sister Mary, which had descended to her daughter Frances, in 1841 (Lee County Deed Book 3, p. 105); Muir sold his in 1842 (Lee County Deed Book 3, pp. 399, 432); Farrar began selling hers in 1845 (Lee County Deed Book 10, p. 343), and Antaya disposed of hers by 1850 (Lee County Deed Book Vol. 8, pp., 8, 16, 329; Deed Book Vol 9, pp. 583–584 and Deed Book Vol. 10, pp. 135, 260–262, 272–275 and 615–616). Details of each share are in Spalding v. Antaya, Half Breed Record, pp. 177–185.
- 16.
Mason’s ruling on appeal is in Wright v. Marsh, 2 Greene 94, 112. The United States Supreme Court, after reviewing the matter, found no fraud in the way the lawyers or the Iowa courts handled Cardinell’s claim, see Coy v. Mason 58 US 580 (1854).
- 17.
Johnston v. Owners of the Half Breed Lands of Lee County, Half Breed Record, p. 104; Brigham v. Owners of the Half Breed Lands of Lee County, Ibid., p. 105; Reid v. Wright, 2 Greene 15, 19 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1849); Webster v. Reid, 52 US 437, 440.
- 18.
In Webster v. Reid, 1 Morris 467 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1846) the Iowa Supreme Court, with Mason sitting, upheld Mason’s decision as a district court judge that Reid had title to a 160-acre farm, the US Supreme Court reversed this in Webster v. Reid 42 US 437. Sprott v. Reid, 3 Greene 489 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1852) overturned a 1846 Lee County District Court decision affirming Reid’s claim to an 80-acre farm. Mason represented the New York Company in a challenge to its claims in Wright v. Marsh, Lee and Delevan, 2 Greene 94. Mason’s purchase of the New York Company claims is noted Barney v. Miller, 18 Iowa 460 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1870) as is the $100,000 he still owed. It was not until Reid challenged Wright’s title to a 160-acre farm that the Lee County court balked, and was upheld in Reid v. Wright, 2 Greene 15. The US Supreme Court formally affirmed the 1841 division in Coy v. Mason, 58 US 580 (1854); Iowa state courts had done the same in Brace v. Reid, 3 Greene 422 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1852); Powell v. Spaulding, 3 Greene 433 and. De Louis v. Meek, 2 Greene 55 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1849).
References
Barney v. Chittenden et al. 2 Greene 165 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1849).
Barney v. Miller, 18 Iowa 460 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1870).
Brace v. Reid, 3 Greene 422 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1852).
Brigham v. Owners of the Half Breed Lands of Lee County, Half Breed Record, p. 10 (Lee County District Court, 1841).
Claims under 1824 Sac and Fox Treaty, United States Office of Indian Affairs, Central Superintendency, St. Louis, Missouri, Vol. 32.
Coy v. Mason, 58 US 580 at 581 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1855).
“Decree in Partition of the Half Breed Tract in Lee County, Iowa,” Annals of Iowa, Third Series, Vol. 14, No 5, (Fall, 1924) pp. 424–460.
De Louis et al. v. Meek et al. 2 Greene 55 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1849).
Johnston v. Owners of the Half Breed Lands of Lee County, Half Breed Record, p. 104 (Lee County District Court, 1841).
Powell v. Spaulding, 3 Greene 443 at 452 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1852).
Reid v. Wright, 2 Greene 15 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1849).
Spalding v. Antaya, Half Breed Record, (Lee County District Court, 1840).
Sprott v. Reid, 3 Greene 489 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1852).
Wright v. Marsh, Lee and Delevan, 2 Greene 94 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1849).
Webster v. Reid, 1 Morris 467 (Iowa Supreme Court, 1846).
Webster v. Reid, 52 US 437 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1850).
Campbell, Isaac, “Letter,” History of Lee County Iowa (Chicago: Western Publishing Co., 1879) pp. 330–333.
Cook, Lyndon W., “Isaac Galland, Mormon Benefactor,” BYU Studies, vol. 19, (1979) p. 261–284.
Ford, Thomas, History of Illinois (Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Press, 1995).
Ivins, Virginia Wilcox, Yesterdays: Reminiscences of Long Ago, (Keokuk, Iowa: privately published 1924).
Reid, J.M., Sketches and Recollections of the Old Settlers and New Comers, the Mormon Bandits Danite Band (Keokuk, Iowa: R.B. Ogden, 1876).
Smith, Joseph (B.C. Roberts, editor), History of the Church, Vol. 4 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1902).
Stiles, Edward, Recollections and Sketches of Notable Lawyers and Public Men of Early Iowa (Des Moines: Homestead Publishing, 1916).
Wick, B.L., “The Struggle for the Half Breed Tract,” Annals of Iowa, Vol. 7, (1905) pp. 16–29.
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Ress, D. (2019). The Courthouse Coup in Iowa. In: The Half Breed Tracts in Early National America. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31467-5_5
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