Bertha K. Adams, as Administratrix of the Estate of George F. Adams, Deceased v. The Montana Power Company, a Montana Corporation

Appellant seeks review of the district court’s order dismissing the action for want of jurisdiction. The question presented is whether admiralty jurisdic tion encompasses a tort claim arising from the capsizing of a small pleasure boat on a dam-obstructed body of water no longer traversed by commercial maritime shipping. We affirm the judgment of the district court.

The relevant facts are not in dispute. Appellant’s decedent, riding in a small boat near Hauser dam on the Missouri River in Montana, was drowned when a discharge of water from the dam overturned the craft. Appellant brought suit in admiralty against the operators of the dam for wrongful death. 28 U.S.C. § 1333 (1). The stretch of river on which the accident occurred is twenty-five miles long, wholly in Montana, and completely obstructed by Hauser dam at one end and by Holter dam at the other. The trial court found that only non-commercial fisherman, water skiers, and pleasure boaters made use of the river.

A cause of action sounding in tort is not cognizable under admiralty jurisdiction unless the alleged wrong occurs on navigable waters and bears a significant relationship to traditional maritime activity.…