Felix v. Yaksum

Citations

• 95 Wash. 138
• 163 P. 481
• 1917 Wash. LEXIS 781

Syllabus

<p>Indians — Patents—Restriction Against Alienation — Statutes. Since an unwarranted provision in an Indian homestead patent restricting the power of alienation will be regarded as surplusage, and since the patent must have read into it the law under which the title was acquired, an Indian homestead patent is subject to the five-year restriction upon the power of alienation provided in the Indian homestead act of March 3, 1875 (18 U. S. Stats., p. 420, § 15), extending the privilege of the general homestead laws to Indians, and not to the twenty-five year limitation provided in the act of July 4, 1884 (23 U. S. Stats., p. 96), where the homestead application recited that it was made under the act of 1875, and the required fees and final proof were offered under that act; notwithstanding the land department first issued a patent under the act of 1884 containing a restriction upon the power of alienation for twenty-five years, but later, in apparent recognition of the error, issued another patent in the usual form under the general homestead laws without any restriction upon the power of alienation.</p> <p>Courts — Federal Question — Controlling Decision of Federal Courts — Statutes—Repeal—Indian Homestead Acts. Whether the act of 1875 (18 IT. S. Stats., p. 420), making the general homestead laws available to Indians who had abandoned their tribal relations subject to a five-year restriction upon the power of alienation, was impliedly repealed or amended by the act of 1884 (23 U. S. Stats., p. 96), authorizing Indians then located upon the public lands to avail themselves of the privileges of the homestead laws subject to a twenty-five year restriction upon the power of alienation, is purely a Federal question; and the supreme court of the United States having decided that it was not, and that the two acts were not repugnant, the decision is conclusive upon the state courts.</p> <p>Gifts — Parol Gift of Land — Evidence—Sufficiency. A present parol gift, by an aged Ind