Harkness v. Hyde
United States Supreme Court
98 U.S. 476 (1878)
The plaintiff sued the defendant, a resident of a Shoshonee Indian reservation, in the District Court for the Territory of Idaho, and the defendant was served there by an Idaho county sheriff. The defendant entered a special appearance solely to contest the court's jurisdiction; when that motion was denied, he took an exception and then answered the complaint on the merits. Judgment went against him and was affirmed by the territorial supreme court, and he sought review in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Whether a Territory of Idaho court has jurisdiction over a resident of an Indian reservation whose tribe never assented to inclusion within the territory, where the defendant contested jurisdiction by special appearance before answering the complaint.