by 1885, king became aware of the scheme and retained lawyer john van voorhis to sue menage. menage claimed ignorance of the first agreement between king, remington and innes and asserted that he had purchased the property outright from the two. after a lengthy trial in minnesota district court, menage lost and was ordered to return the land to king along with all proceeds from the development of the land. menage appealed to the minnesota supreme court in 1886, however the lower court's decision was upheld.