 Fellows v. Blacksmith , 60 U.S. ( 19 How . ) 366 ( 1857 ) , is a United States Supreme Court decision involving Native American law . John Blacksmith , a Tonawanda Seneca , sued agents of the Ogden Land Company for common law claims of trespass , assault , and battery after he was forcibly evicted from his sawmill by the Company's agents. The Court ruled that the United States had the right to regulate Native American lands, and that the Native American tribes had no right to sue for trespass on their lands. The case was an early example of the Court's support of the Indian removal policy of the federal government.
The case