The Montello was a Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of navigable waters. The case was brought by the Montello Steamboat Company, which was attempting to navigate the Fox River in Wisconsin. The company argued that the river was navigable and thus should be open to public use. The state of Wisconsin argued that the river was not navigable and thus should be closed to public use. The Supreme Court ultimately sided with the Montello Steamboat Company, ruling that the Fox River was navigable and thus open to public use. The Court's decision was based on the fact that the river was capable of being used for commercial purposes, and that it had been used for such purposes in the past. The Court also noted that the river was capable of being used for transportation, and that it had been used for such purposes in the past. The Court's decision established a precedent that navigable waters are open to public use, and that states cannot close them off to public use.

In The Montello, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a steamboat that had been damaged by an obstruction in navigable waters could recover damages from the owner of the obstruction. Justice Field delivered a dissenting opinion arguing that Congress had not intended for such recovery to be available under existing law. He argued that when Congress passed laws providing for compensation for damage caused by obstructions in navigable waters, it did so with specific intent and only provided relief if certain conditions were met. In this case, he argued, those conditions were not met because there was no proof of negligence on behalf of the owner of the obstruction or any other party responsible for its presence in navigable waters. Therefore, according to Justice Field's dissent, no compensation should be awarded as none is authorized under existing law.