and that the census of 1900 showed there were 639 adult male members of the KCA tribes on the reservation. Thus the Jerome Agreement was twenty-three signatures short of the required amount. 3.) The KCA’s had protested the agreement from the beginning. 4.) The version that was ratified by Congress had been significantly altered and amended and the changes made had not been submitted to the KCA for their approval. Springer argued for Lone Wolf that Congress should not be able to unilaterally alter the provisions of the agreement without the Indians’ consent and thus the Act should be rejected. On July 22, 1901, Springer, who was also aided by attorneys Hays McMeehan, William C. Reeves, and Charles Porter Johnson, filed for a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction halting the cession and the opening of surplus lands after the members of the KCA tribes had been given their individual allotments. The request for the restraining order was denied by Judge Clinton F. Irwin. Springer and his colleagues appeal to The Supreme Court for the District of Columbia where on June 21, 1901, Justice A. C. Bradley denied the KCA’s application for a temporary injunction. Springer appealed the District Court’s decision to the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia where the decision in the lower courts was upheld on December 4, 1901, by Chief Justice Alvey. Finally, Springer, now aided by attorney Hampton Carson who was hired by the Indian Rights Association, appealed to the United States Supreme Court and where once again he was unsuccessful in his appeal. On January 5, 1903, in a unanimous decision, the Court affirmed the Court of Appeals and upheld the Congressional action. The Court rejected the Indians' argument that Congress' action was a taking under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Justice Edward D. White described the Indians as the wards of the nation and matters involving Indian lands were the sole jurisdiction of Congress. Congress, therefore, had the power to abrogate the provisions of an Indian treaty, including the two million acre change. Justice John M. Harlan concurred in the judgment. This case maintained that the federal government had always had plenary power over tribes and could unilaterally abrogate Indian treaty rights despite the protests of the tribes. Springer unsuccessfully challenged the federal income tax levied during the Civil War in the case of Springer v. United States. William Springer died on December 4, 1903; and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois. References External links Category:Members of the Illinois House of Representatives Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois Category:Illinois lawyers Category:Illinois College alumni Category:Indiana University alumni Category:Indian Territory judges Category:Politicians from Jacksonville, Illinois Category:Politicians from Springfield, Illinois Category:United States federal judges appointed by Grover Cleveland Category:19th-century American judges Category:1836 births Category:1903 deaths Category:Illinois Democrats Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives Category:19th-century American politicians