that a road opened and established, pursuant to the Act of March 3, 1901, through land outside of a Reservation, held by the United States in trust for individual Indian allottees, was governed by state law and that, under its law, the State of Oklahoma could permit a utility to establish an electric service line on the right-of-way without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. The court reached the result by holding that the words "in accordance with the law of the State or Territory" embraced not only the state laws relating to the "opening and establishment" of the highway, but also to the state laws governing the incidental uses which might be made of the highway.
Here the controversy involves land, the beneficial ownership of whichnot survive the abandonment of the highway. The buried line here would not endanger highway travel or abutting owners. The line is essential to modern life. Montana is spotted with restricted lands held in trust for Indian allottees and tribes.[3] Complications and confusions would arise from applying to Indian lands rules differing from those which obtain as to non-Indian lands. The maintenance of a buried line in the highway right-of-way does no damage to the Tribes. The United States makes a policy argument to the effect that the damage to the Tribes is the erosion of the Tribes' and the Secretary's authority to control placement of utility lines on tribal lands. When a highway is established through Reservation lands under the Act of March 3, 1901, the power