SCLC #728 · 1857 Fellows v. Blacksmith · Tonawanda sawmill private force barred
Fellows v. Blacksmith, 60 U.S. 366 (Mar. 5, 1857) affirmed judgment for the side of John Blacksmith, a Tonawanda Seneca expelled from an Indian sawmill/yard on July 13, 1846 by private grantees claiming under the 1838/1842 treaties. The Court held the treaties did not prescribe a private mechanism for surrender or removal; “A forcible removal must be made, if made at all, under the direction of the United States.” Grantees gained no right to enter and forcibly dispossess. The Court did not mandate federal removal in every case, and declined to decide whether appraisal/payment for improvements were separate conditions precedent. Treaty ratification was treated as supreme law against a particular judicial challenge — yet the grantee still lost. Later New York Indians (1867) invoked Fellows on different parties/remedies/tracts.
Source: README. Craft: treaty ratification ≠ private self-help authority; federal-direction clause ≠ mandatory federal removal; term header (Dec Term 1856) ≠ decision date (Mar 5, 1857).