Document Type

Article

Publication Title

North Dakota Law Review

Publication Date

2005

Volume

81

First Page

295

Abstract

(Excerpt)

In August 1990, commercial fossil hunters from the Black Hills Geologic Institute ("Black Hills") discovered the remains of an almost complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton located in the Badlands of South Dakota. Named "Sue" after her discoverer, the fossil immediately became the subject of controversy. Although many of the facts were disputed, the collectors gave the purported owner of the land, a Native American rancher named Maurice Williams, a check for $5,000, which he cashed, and the collectors excavated Sue. The fair market value of a T-Rex skeleton with that degree of completeness was over eight million dollars.

Once the discovery began to garner publicity, Williams began a fierce court battle to rescind the contract with Black Hills, claiming that the $5,000 was merely a payment to inspect the property for potential fossils. He was not the only one with a bone to pick. At one point, the parties claiming ownership of Sue included Black Hills, Williams, the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe (Williams' land was within the boundaries of their reservation), and the federal government (the government had held the land in trust for Williams so it was not subject to tax forfeiture).

Ultimately, the district court, and then the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled against Black Hills. The structure of the trust required government permission to sell land. Holding that Sue's bones were part of the "land," the Eighth Circuit determined that Sue could only be sold if government permission had been granted, and, as Black Hills had never requested permission, it had no claim to the fossil. The Eighth Circuit concluded that the federal government held the fossil in trust for Williams. In addition to the pages of the federal reporter and in the press, Sue's story has also been told in two books, one of which, Rex Appeal, was written by fossil hunter and Black Hills founder Peter Larson.

An understanding of contract law and contract defenses is essential to understanding and analyzing the question of Sue's ownership. Sue's case involves the high-stakes world of fossil hunting and collecting, a subject matter that students find appealing. Besides piquing student interest, Sue's case also allows for a far-ranging discussion of many contract defenses. When discussing the contract between Maurice Williams and the Black Hills Institute, students begin formulating arguments based on the doctrines of unilateral mistake, unequal bargaining power, capacity, unconscionability, and the failure of a condition.

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