''Baker v. Morton'', 79 U.S. (12 Wall.) 150 (1870), was the second of two land claim suits to come out of

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska ...

, filed in September 1860, prior to statehood. A

claim jumper Claim Jumper Restaurant and Saloon is an American restaurant chain with more than 30 locations. The company is based in Houston, Texas. History Restaurateur Craig Nickoloff opened the first Claim Jumper in Los Alamitos, California, on September ...

filed suit against local

land baron A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

s to stake out a homestead in the area that was to become the city of Omaha. The case was important for establishing homesteaders' rights and ensuring that the future growth of Omaha would benefit everyone, not just wealthy landowners and speculators.

Details

The case of ''Alexander H. Baker v. William S. Morton'' was a case of an ill-gotten land claim. Baker was an early settler in the

area who lived on of land in an area of town then known as Orchard Hill, which is now in

North Omaha North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the ...

. An adjoining plot of land was owned by a man named Brown. The Omaha Claim Club did not recognize the men as legal residents for either of the plots and threatened the two men with death if they did not turn over the titles to the land. Baker and Brown conveyed their land titles in the face of potential harm. In 1860 Baker and Brown filed suits against the Club to get their titles back. The territorial court ruled against Baker, who appealed to the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. The court ruled that the property was obtained under duress and was to be reinstated to the rightful owner.The territorial court had ruled in favor of Brown in his case, and the Omaha Claim Club members appealed. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court. The court in the Baker case acknowledged the similarity of the facts and findings in the Brown decision, and ruled accordingly.

Legacy

Today this case is cited by legal experts as precedent in cases of contractual holdup to establish the illegal nature of the Omaha Claim Club's activities and subsequent activities that exhibit this form of

collusion Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...

References

External links

* * {{caselaw source , case = ''Baker v. Morton'', {{Ussc, 79, 150, 1870, Wall., 12, el=no , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/79/150/ , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep079/usrep079150/usrep079150.pdf , openjurist =https://openjurist.org/79/us/150 1870 in United States case law United States Supreme Court cases United States land use case law Pioneer history of Omaha, Nebraska United States Supreme Court cases of the Chase Court

Details

Legacy

See also

References

External links