United States v. Cook

United States v. Cook
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided May 4, 1874
Full case name	United States v. George Cook
Citations	86 U.S. 591 (more) 19 Wall. 591; 22 L. Ed. 210
Case history
Prior	Certificate of division, C.C.E.D. Wis.
Holding
Indian tribes do not own the land their reservations are on, the land is owned by the United States and the Indians only have a right to occupy the land. They may not cut and sell timber merely for the purpose of selling timber, they may only sell timber that was cut incidental to another purpose. The government has a right to take action to recover damages for timber sold illegally from that land.
Court membership
Chief Justice Morrison Waite Associate Justices Nathan Clifford · Noah H. Swayne Samuel F. Miller · David Davis Stephen J. Field · William Strong Joseph P. Bradley · Ward Hunt
Case opinion
Majority	Waite, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
Common law decision, based on replevin, waste, and Indian right of occupancy
Superseded by
Statute, 25 U.S.C. §§ 406–407, as stated in United States v. Mitchell, 463 U.S. 206 (1983).

United States v. Cook, 86 U.S. (19 Wall.) 591 (1873), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Indian tribes do not own the land their reservations are on, the land is owned by the United States and the Indians only have a right to occupy the land. They may not cut and sell timber merely for the purpose of selling timber, they may only sell timber that was cut incidental to another purpose. The government has a right to take action to recover damages for timber sold illegally from that land.