Laughing Whitefish

Plot summary

A shy young lawyer, William Poe (Willy), opens up a law practice in Marquette, Michigan in 1873. His first client is Charlotte Kawbawgam, a Chippewa Indian, who wants to sue the Jackson Ore Company for breach of contract. Cassius Wendell (Cash), an aging, alcoholic lawyer with one wooden leg, had been Charlotte’s original legal adviser but had been holding onto Charlotte’s claim until she turned of age. Unwilling to take on the responsibility and effort of trying the case he withdraws and foists the case onto Willy.

Charlotte’s mother, Sayee, was Marji’s second wife. She had died when Charlotte was a child. Ironically, Charlotte was raised by Marji’s first wife, Blue Heron, who Marji had never divorced. Later, Marji would take yet a third partner, Old Meg.

The claim was based on the fact that in 1846 Marji had first shown the Jackson mining company the place containing rich deposits of iron ore that would later become the Jackson Mine. In return, the company granted a minority share of the mine to Marji. Many years later a new group gained control of the company and made it profitable. They refused to honor the contract with Marji but he had retained the original document of the contract, hoping that some day his daughter Charlotte would be able to benefit from his share. Marji goes to work for the mining company and eventually is killed in an accident.

Willy interviews several Marquette-area regulars including the old man, Philo T. Everett, the company treasurer, who witnessed the execution of the contract but is on his death bed. He meets the Indian man, Osseo, who also witnessed the signing of the contract and was a long-time friend of Marji Kawbawgam. Osseo also predicted Marji’s death at the mine, noting that the mine is a sacred and dangerous place for the Chippewa. Cash assists Willy in developing the legal arguments in the case, but often disappears at critical moments because of his addiction to alcohol. Before the trial, much to Willy’s dismay, Osseo also dies. Willy tries but fails to locate an Indian woman named Cosima, who had also helped raise Charlotte. As the case proceeds to trial, Willy and Charlotte begin a flirtation that will eventually flourish into a romance at the end of the novel.

Willy’s opposing counsel are two men, Henry Harwood, the local counsel for the Jackson Ore Company, and Guy Nesbitt, the company’s hired gun from New York City. Nesbitt is a legend as a trial attorney. Harwood, wealthy from his steady practice representing the mining company, owns the only passable set of legal books in Marquette and generously offers them the use of his library to Willy and Cash for their research. Strangely, Harwood does little of the work on behalf of the defendant once the trial begins and by the time of the appeal he withdraws from the case.

Willy first faces a motion for summary disposition on the pleadings that identifies the key defenses that the company will raise: laches and polygamy. He survives the motion but now realizes the case is much more complex than he first assumed, dealing with a section of constitutional law regarding native American Indians, a subject he knows little about. After taking testimony on the cause of action and the defenses, the circuit judge, C. B. Grant, dismisses the case on the grounds that the state courts cannot rule in favor of the rights of children born in a polygamous marriage. Throughout the trial, the (fictional) Judge Grant grimaces in disgust whenever a witness describes the marriage, divorce, and adoption customs of the Chippewa Indians.

During trial Cash learns that the local defense counsel, Harwood, recommended that the company settle the case. After trial is over, Harwood withdraws. Cash believes that Harwood would not have made the settlement recommendation unless there was a serious flaw in the defense’s strategy. Willy does not find the flaw until he uncovers one law book that Harwood had kept on his desk – a book on family law with a section on American Indians. He learns that, under principles of federal Indian law, state courts have no jurisdiction over the internal domestic affairs of Indians and Indian tribes. He focuses his appellate brief on that point. On appeal before the Michigan Supreme Court, Willy finally prevails over Nesbitt and the mining company.