In 1785, the two states entered into a compact, which declared Pocomoke Sound, the Potomac River (which they also shared as a common border), and the Chesapeake Bay a common waterway, and each state pledged not to interfere with the other's water-borne traffic via tax, duty, prohibition, or restraint.

"[6] The eighth clause addressed both the Potomac and Pocomoke Rivers, and provided that all "laws and regulations which may be necessary for the preservation of fish, or for the performance of quarantine in the River Potowmack, or for preserving and keeping open the channel and navigation thereof, or of the River Pocomoke, within the limits of Virginia, by preventing the throwing out ballast or giving any other obstruction thereto, shall be made with the mutual consent and approbation of both states.

In March 1893, Robert Wharton, a citizen of Maryland, was arrested by Virginia law enforcement authorities for harvesting oysters from Pocomoke Sound.

The defendant now filed a writ of habeas corpus against John H. Wise, Sheriff of the Accomack County, Virginia.

[12] Field relied heavily on Virginia v. Tennessee, 148 U.S. 503 (1893), decided in the prior term, in defining what a "compact" was and the extent of the Constitution's prohibition on them.

[13] But Field not only concluded that the Compact of 1785 was not in violation of the Articles of Confederation but also strongly asserted that the Constitution did not apply to those already in force at the time of its adoption:[14] Field now turned the Court's attention to the construction of the actual clauses contained in the compact.

Field observed that Article 7 of the compact contained no reference to the Pocomoke, and so was irrelevant to the issue at hand.