Coeur d'Alene Submerged Lands Case, 1866-1997

File — Box: 393

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This box contains materials from Hart's work on the Coeur d'Alene submerged lands case, beginning with materials relating to Heyburn State Park. The report on the creation of the park between 1908 and 1911 was important because when the United States conveyed the park to the State of Idaho (from the Coeur d'Alene Reservation), it included the water and submerged lands of the lakes in the park, which were navigable. That was strong evidence that the tribe owned the submerged lands within its boundaries before the conveyance. Materials related to Hart's analysis of Indian Executive Order reservations follows. Issues had been raised by the State of Idaho relative to the efficacy of Executive Order reservations. He looked at every Executive Order reservation that had been established and eventually concluded that all of them had been issued by the president with congressionally-granted authority and as a result the reservations were every bit as efficacious as treaty reservations. Dr. Marilyn Watkins also worked for on this project, and aided Hart in preparation of a reservation by reservation analysis. The analysis, research materials used to write the report, material on court decisions of pertinent cases, survey notes, hearings on use of the reservation in 1910, and transcriptions and frames from National Archives microfilm are contained in boxes related to the Coeur d'Alene Submerged Lands Case.

Dates

1866-1997

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.