"Doc" Smith, who was later the Douglas County Surveyor for many years. Baker v. Morton The Circuit court of the District of Nebraska decided against a claim brought by Alexander Baker versus William Morton, both early Omaha settlers; Morton was involved in the Omaha Claim Club. Baker appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and in 1870 the Supreme Court ruled for Baker in the trial of Baker v. Morton. According to court proceedings, A. H. Baker was forced to sign over the land he claimed to another person for free because of threats made by members of the Omaha Claim Club. Important figures in Omaha's history testified during the trial, including John Redick and James Woolworth. In the trial the club was found to commonly take landowners who refused to sell their property to the nearby Missouri River by force. With a rope tied around the person's neck, members of the club repeatedly dunked him until he agreed to sell. In this case, the club threatened to hang or drown Baker. The judge found Baker to have been forced to sign the contract through violence, and overturned the circuit court's earlier finding on behalf of Morton. Demise Reasons for the demise of the Omaha Township Claim Association, aka the Omaha Claim Club, vary. The Supreme Court ordered the breakup in their ruling. Other sources say that with the arrival of Omaha's United States Land Office, the claims club simply was not needed. In 1856, the U.S. government surveyed the land in Douglas County, including Omaha, and on March 17, 1857 the U.S. Land Office opened. The Omaha Claim Club, along with many claim clubs around Nebraska, disbanded by 1860. Legacy The Omaha Claim Club and others like it are credited to bringing order to a lawless frontier. By enforcing the "laws" they made up, they supposedly created an order where the U.S. government was not prepared to otherwise. In 1857 when the Buchanan Administration announced the sale of lands in Nebraska would start in 1858, claims clubs across the state, led by Omaha, protested against him on the grounds that they would not be ready for the sale. The Administration was persuaded to wait until 1859. The Saratoga Claim Club, established in 1857 north of Omaha City, was formed in admiration of Omaha's club. The East Omaha Land Company of 1882 and the South Omaha Land Company of 1887