Indian Reserved Water Rights The Winters Doctrine in Its Social and Legal Context

In its 1908 decision for Winters v. United States, the Supreme Court affirmed a lower-court ruling guaranteeing the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Indian tribes reserved water rights in the Milk River. Based on the same 1888 treaty that had created the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana, the Winters decision has with some controversy influenced American Indian water rights and western water development as a whole ever since. Indian Reserved Water Rights by John Shurts is the first book-length historical study of the Winters case and its early effects. In contrast to previous explanations of the decision, Shurts demonstrates how the litigation and its outcome fit well within the existing legal context and ongoing water development in the Milk River Valley. He also analyzes the Winters doctrine during its earliest years, primarily through an examination of water-rights litigation on the Uintah Reservation in Utah, showing that it had a lively existence in those years contrary to what has been understood.Shurts, John is the author of 'Indian Reserved Water Rights The Winters Doctrine in Its Social and Legal Context' with ISBN 9780806135410 and ISBN 0806135417.