These tribes were the Chelan, Colville, the Entiat, the Methow, the Nespelem, the Nez Perce of Chief Joseph's Band, the southern Okanagan, the Palus, the Sanpoil, the Sinixt (or "Lakes"), the Sinkiuse-Columbia, and the Wenatchi.

The reservation was originally created 1872 by a series of Executive Orders issued by President Ulysses S. Grant and stretched from the Columbia River on the south to the Canada–US border on the north.

[16] Fourth, the 1891 agreement is covered by the Supremacy Clause because Congress enacted a federal statute relating to Indians, which is binding on the states.

The state argued that since the federal government could not enter into a treaty with the Colville tribe, the Supremacy Clause did not apply.

[20] The United States, through Solicitor General Robert Bork filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the position of the Antoines and the tribe.

[fn 3] Brennan began by following Morisset's argument that the Indian canon governed, that agreements must be construed in favor of the tribe, noting that this has been law for over 150 years.

[23] Brennan next noted the fallacy of the lower courts position on the Supremacy Clause and the agreement with the tribe.

He noted that once Congress passed a statute implementing the agreement, it was law and the Supremacy Clause applied.

Douglas summed it up clearly when he said "We have here only an issue involving the power of a State to impose a regulatory restraint upon a right which Congress bestowed on these Indians.