Lee v. United States

In January 1936 the Secretary of the Interior approved an oil and gas lease to appellant Lee of 470 acres of Blackfeet Indian tribal lands near Cut Bank, Montana. Lee was required by the terms of the lease to drill at least four wells on the premises within one year from the date of approval, a bond in the amount of $6,000 being exacted to insure performance of the terms and conditions of the lease. Four additional wells were required to be drilled during each successive year until as many wells had been drilled as there were forty acre tracts included in the area. It was provided that if the lessee should fail or refuse to drill as required, such failure should be considered^ a violation of a material and substantial term of the contract, and that in such event the lessee “shall pay to the officer in charge, for the benefit of the Blackfeet Tribe of Indians, the full amount for which this lease is bonded.”

In December 1936 the lessee applied to the Secretary for cancellation of the lease and release from liability under the bond on the ground that he had drilled one well which was not productive and that other developments on adjoining land were also unsuccessful, which facts,…