The court battles of the Yankton Sioux of southwestern Minnesota showed
the frustration Native Americans were experiencing with the white justice
system.  The Yankton were deeded land and exclusive rights to the Red
Pipestone Quarry by a treaty in 1858. Soon after the treaty was signed,
however, white settlers and a railroad company began illegally using both
the land and the quarry.  A series of federal acts weakened the original
treaty, and all legal actions by the tribe, including a motion to the
Supreme Court, were decided against the Indians.  Compensation was not
fully resolved until 1928.  Shown here are the attorneys and witnesses for
the Yankton Sioux in 1927.