Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{“Not quite th’ whole tribe,” Longarm answered. When it came to close, well, there was one Ute in particular he’d gotten close to. Pretty little thing she’d been too.}

_{“You know what I mean.”}

_{“I might could,” Longarm agreed.}

_{“For some reason the Utes liked you. And apparently trust you. That’s why you are being asked to serve this writ.”}

_{“I see,” Longarm said. “More or less. Is begging gonna get me outta this?”}

_{“Nope, no chance.”}

_{“Then I expect you better tell me ’bout it.”}

_{“All right. The Utes asked for you, like 1 said. That request was passed along through their attorney.”}

_{Longarm’s eyebrows shot up. An attorney representing the Ute nation? Now wasn’t that a strange kettle o’ fish. Generally these cases involved some bunch of greedy whites filing papers to hustle Indians out of their way, not the Indians filing papers themselves.}

_{“Was there something you wanted, Longarm?”}

_{“No, you go ahead, Billy. I’ll cough an’ marvel when you’re done.”}

_{“Thank you. As I was saying, the Utes requested your participation in particular. That was passed along by the attorney representing their interests. A brief was filed with}

_{Judge John McFee, and he... Longarm, you look like you’re ready to bust. Is there something you want to ask me?”}

_{“It’s just... who the hell is this McFee? I sure thought I knew every judge in this district. And I never heard of no McFee.”}

_{“McFee is federal. He sits in Nebraska.”}

_{‘There ain’t no Utes in Nebraska, Billy. Not unless I’ve got awful forgetful all o’ a sudden.”}

_{‘There may not be Ute Indians there, Longarm, but there are federal courts in Nebraska. Including Judge McFee’s. I might point out that there is also precedent there. Newly made case law that originated in Omaha. And that is what we are dealing with here. Are you familiar with Standing Bear versus Crook?” .}

_{“Mmm, I can’t say as that turned up on my reading list yet. But I’m sure I’ll get to it real soon.”}

_{‘The case was in Judge Elmer Dundy’s court recently. Judge Dundy came up with a habeas corpus ruling that says Indians are entitled to the same privileges and protections as anyone else—the same obligations of compliance with the law too, of course—if they choose to live off their assigned reservation lands.”}

_{“Now ain’t that an unusual notion,” Longarm said dryly. “Perhaps. The point is, Dundy’s ruling means that Indians who are causing no harm have the right to leave their reservations if they wish and conduct themselves as any citizen might.”}