In the 1915 case of Hallowell v. Commons, Acting Indian Agent, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mr. Hallowell who was a non-Indian settler on land that was part of an Indian reservation. The issue at hand involved whether or not he had to pay taxes for his property which fell within the boundaries of an Indian reservation but wasn't owned by any tribe member or used for tribal purposes. The court held that such lands were subject to state taxation as they were no longer "Indian country" under federal law and thus outside state jurisdiction only if occupied by Indians or used for tribal purposes. This decision set a precedent regarding taxation rights over non-tribal properties located within reservations.

In the dissenting opinion for Hallowell v. Commons, Acting Indian Agent (1915), it was argued that the majority's decision to deny Mr. Hallowell's claim on land he had purchased from an Osage Indian woman was unjust and inconsistent with previous rulings of the court. The dissenting justices believed that under existing laws at the time, Native Americans were allowed to sell their allotted lands after a certain period of time without government interference or approval. They contended that this right should have been upheld in this case as well, despite any subsequent changes in legislation which sought to restrict such sales due to concerns over exploitation and fraud against Native American populations by unscrupulous buyers. In essence, they felt that retroactively applying these new restrictions violated Mr.Hallowell’s rights as a buyer who had made his purchase legally under then-existing law.