Ep 3: The Court Battles

The episode centers on Randy Settler of Lone Pine and his family's multigenerational fight over Columbia River salmon. Tony Schick and Katie Campbell trace how Randy’s parents, Alvin and Mary Gowdy Settler, moved into makeshift housing beside the river after dams and state rules destroyed traditional fishing sites, then escalated protests—fish‑ins, illegal netting and confrontations with police—to defend treaty fishing. Leadana Lopez Whitefoot and Randy recall dramatic frontline tactics (including running boat blockades) and the personal costs: arrests, undercover stings, and Mary’s 1978 conviction and 10‑month prison sentence.

The narrative then follows the legal arc: a 1969 federal finding that Oregon denied tribes a fair share, the 1974 Settler v. Numeria appellate ruling recognizing tribal regulatory authority, and the landmark 'Bolt/Bol' decision (upheld by the Supreme Court in 1979) that effectively reserved half of harvestable salmon for tribes. The hosts highlight a shift from courtroom wins to conservation—tribes using treaty rights to fund habitat restoration, halt fossil‑fuel projects, push dam debates and secure major state investments (cited at about $2 billion) to fix salmon‑blocking infrastructure. The episode also notes internal tensions: some tribal members criticized commercial strategies like Mary’s, even as later tribal leaders celebrated her and Alvin as river warriors.