In the case of Fink et al., Trustees &C., v. Board of County Commissioners of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, 1918, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a county in Oklahoma could tax lands that were allotted to members of the Creek Nation under an agreement ratified by Congress. The court ruled that these lands were not exempt from taxation. This decision was based on their interpretation of the Act passed by Congress in 1901 which provided for allotment and division among tribal members but did not explicitly state any exemption from local or state taxes. Therefore, it was concluded that once title had been transferred to individual tribe members through this process they became subject to all laws and regulations applicable to other citizens including property taxation.

In the dissenting opinion for Fink et al., Trustees &c., v. Board of County Commissioners of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, Justice Holmes disagreed with the majority's decision that a tax sale was invalid due to insufficient notice. He argued that while it is important to ensure fairness and justice in taxation procedures, there should also be consideration given to practicality and efficiency. The law does not require impossible standards of exactness but rather reasonable efforts at notification. In this case, he believed that the county had made sufficient attempts to notify the property owners about their delinquent taxes before proceeding with a tax sale. Therefore, he would have upheld the validity of the tax sale.