The Historical Society of the United States Courts in the Eighth
Circuit
Court of Appeals Branch
Short History of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Eighth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has a long and rich
heritage that has reflected the geographic and economic growth of our nation.
The Court has also enjoyed a tradition of able and hardworking judges. This
combination has placed the Eighth Circuit among the great courts in America.
At one time, the circuit included much of the land acquired through the Louisiana
Purchase, stretching westward from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains.
This expansive and diverse geographic area was accompanied by contrasts of large
urban, commercial centers and vast areas of agriculture; heavy industry and
expansive forests; farming and mining; newly settled immigrants and peoples who
were native to these lands. In the early years, the court addressed important
land questions as settlers and settlement of the country moved westward. The
court also decided significant agricultural, mining, and railroad cases that were
critical to the country’s industrial and commercial growth. The Eighth Circuit
was an important source of Native American cases.
Today, the circuit is still located in the heartland of the country. Its seven
state region reaches northward through Minnesota and North Dakota to the
Canadian border; spans the great plains and the lush farmland of Iowa, Nebraska,
and South Dakota; and descends southward along the Missouri and Mississippi
Rivers and down to the rolling hills of Missouri and Arkansas. The Eighth
Circuit has also continued to be a vital source of case law dealing with the
commercial, constitutional, and criminal law issues central to American society.
Although Congress established the federal court system through the Judiciary Act
of 1789, it was not until after the Civil War that the Eighth Circuit began to
take on aspects of its modern-day configuration. In that year, Congress passed
legislation defining the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit to include
Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Minnesota.1 Nebraska was added to the
circuit a year later.2 The states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, and
Wyoming were then added as they were admitted to the Union.3
During this early period, the circuit court panels were made up of the circuit
justice, a circuit judge, and district judges from within the circuit. The first
circuit judge of the Eighth Circuit was John Forrest Dillon of Iowa.4 Already an
accomplished scholar and jurist when he was appointed in 1869, Judge Dillon
served ten years on the circuit court before moving on to a highly successful
law practice in New York City and a nationwide reputation as an expert in
municipal law. Judge Dillon served as president of the American Bar Association
and became known as one of the country’s great lawyers, jurists, and scholars.5
Judge Dillon was succeeded on the court by George Washington McCrary, who had
studied law under future United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel F. Miller
and had been Secretary of War in Rutherford B. Hayes’ administration.6 Judge
McCrary was followed five years later by David J. Brewer of Kansas who eventually
became the first judge to be appointed from the Eighth Circuit to the United
States Supreme Court.7 Henry Clay Caldwell, originally from Iowa, had served as
federal district judge in Arkansas from 1864 until his appointment to succeed
Justice Brewer in 1891. Judge Caldwell was a well known national figure who was
considered for presidential and supreme court nominations.8
In 1891, Congress passed the Evarts Act9 to relieve circuit justices from the
burden of sitting on court of appeals cases. The Act repealed the appellate
jurisdiction of the U.S. Circuit courts, established the U.S. circuit courts of
appeals, and authorized sitting circuit judges to sit on the new court in their
respective circuit. The Evarts Act also created additional circuit judgeships
and contemplated that two circuit judges and one district judge would typically
make up panels on the circuit courts.10
Although the headquarters of the court has always been located in St. Louis,
Missouri, the appointment of Walter Henry Sanborn of Minnesota in 1892 was
ambitiously heralded by local enthusiasts as establishing St. Paul, Minnesota,
as the center of law and justice in “the northwest.”11 Judge Caldwell and Judge
Sanborn were soon joined by Amos Madden Thayer, a former federal district judge
from Missouri, and together “[t]hese three judges launched the Eighth Circuit.”12
In the meantime, Utah, New Mexico, and Oklahoma13 were added to the Eighth Circuit
making it easily the largest circuit in the nation, covering approximately
one-third of the country, having the greatest population, and confronting the
heaviest caseload.14
In the first three decades of the twentieth century, the Eighth Circuit saw the
appointment of several additional judges who included such notables as Willis Van
Devanter of Wyoming who went on to the United States Supreme Court;15 Kimbrough
Stone of Missouri who served on the court for 30 years and was a leader in the
United States Conference of Senior Circuit Judges;16 and William Squire Kenyon of
Iowa who had been a prosecutor, a state trial judge and, at the time of his
appointment, a vital member of the bipartisan “farm bloc” in the United States
Senate.17
By 1929, “the circuit was huge, comprising miners and sodbusters, cotton farming
and irrigation systems, great railroad lines and acres of open lands susceptible
to everything from grazing to oil exploitation.”18 It was in that year that
Congress passed legislation to divide the court into two circuits, and so the
Eighth Circuit took on its present geographic configuration of North Dakota,
South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Arkansas, with the
remaining states becoming the Tenth Circuit.19
Archibald K. Gardner of South Dakota was appointed to the additional judgeship
authorized for the court by the 1929 legislation dividing the circuit and,
although already 61 years old at the time of his appointment, he served on the
Eighth Circuit for 31 years.20 John B. Sanborn, Jr. of Minnesota, who had earned
a reputation as a superb state and federal district court judge, joined Judge
Gardner on the circuit court a few years later.21 Judge Sanborn and his cousin,
Walter Henry Sanborn, were known as the “Hands of the Eighth Circuit” in a
complimentary reference to cousins Learned and Augustus Hand of the Second
Circuit.22 Judge John Sanborn’s first law clerk and later his choice to succeed
him on the Eighth Circuit was Harry A. Blackmun of Minnesota.23
In the 1930’s and 1940’s, the ranks of Eighth Circuit judges were enhanced and
enriched by many fine judges, including individuals such as the enigmatic
Joseph W. Woodrough, a transplanted Texan who settled in Nebraska and served on
the court for 44 years;24 Seth Thomas of Iowa, a former school teacher, New Dealer,
and much beloved member of the court;25 and Walter G. Riddick, a distinguished
attorney who was the first judge appointed to the Eighth Circuit from Arkansas
since Judge Caldwell nearly half a century before.26
In 1954, Charles J. Vogel became the first judge from North Dakota to serve on the
Eighth Circuit.27 Prior to his appointment to the federal district and circuit
courts, Judge Vogel had practiced with the Vogel law firm in Fargo - the same
firm where future circuit judges Myron H. Bright, John D. Kelly and Kermit E.
Bye all practiced before their appointments to the Eighth Circuit.28
Martin Van Oosterhout of Iowa was appointed to the court following a
distinguished career as a state trial judge.29 Marion C. Matthes of Missouri,30
Pat Mehaffy of Arkansas,31 Harvey M. Johnsen of Nebraska32 and, of course, future
United States Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun of Minnesota33 were among
the many other fine judges who joined the court during this period.
The Eighth Circuit also included Charles Evans Whittaker of Missouri who, after
brief stints on the federal district and circuit courts, was appointed to the
United States Supreme Court in 1957.34 Two decades later, another Missourian,
William H. Webster, also rose quickly from posts as United States Attorney and
federal district judge to the Eighth Circuit, and then moved on to serve as
director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and director of the Central
Intelligence Agency.35
Even after the division of the original circuit in 1929, the Eighth Circuit
continued to be an extremely busy court. Consequently, it is not surprising
the Eighth Circuit has been a great source of innovation and creative methods
for judicial management and administration. The circuit’s senior judges were
prominent leaders among the United States Conference of Senior Circuit Judges
and later in the United States Judicial Conference. The Court developed
important circuit-wide case management procedures that increased productivity
while maintaining collegiality among the members of the court.36
These traditions of innovation and improvement continued under the extraordinary
leadership of Donald P. Lay, who had been appointed to the court from Nebraska
in 1966, and who subsequently served as chief judge from 1980 until 1992. Chief
Judge Lay was widely respected for his energy, foresight, and adoption of
new methods and techniques for managing the circuit’s enormous caseload. He
opened the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference to all lawyers, and he promoted
activities and programs to celebrate and record the Eighth Circuit’s rich history.37
After Judge Lay took senior status, the court benefited greatly from the leadership of Richard
S. Arnold of Arkansas, Pasco M. Bowman of Missouri, Roger L. Wollman of South Dakota, and David
R. Hansen of Iowa who each rendered fine service as chief judge during the Eighth Circuit’s
transition into the twenty-first century, and whose rotation at the helm of the court displayed the
high degree of collegiality that has been a hallmark of the Eighth Circuit. They were then succeeded
by the as chief judge by James B. Loken of Minnesota who led the court well for his full seven year term. The
Honorable William J. Riley of Nebraska, who had clerked for the Honorable Donald P. Lay, is currently serving as
the Chief Judge of the Eighth Circuit.
The Eighth Circuit’s rich history and monumental contributions have been chronicled by the distinguished scholar,
Professor Jeffrey Brandon Morris, who has written the fine, full-length history entitled, Establishing Justice
in Middle America: A History of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Honorable Harry A.
Blackmun, who served as a law clerk for the great John B. Sanborn and succeeded Judge Sanborn on the Eighth Circuit
before being appointed to the United States Supreme Court, has been the subject of two excellent books: Harry
Blackmun: The Outsider Justice, by Tinsley E. Yarbrough; and Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun’s Supreme Court
Journey, by Linda Greenhouse. The noble and overlooked life and career of the Honorable Charles E. Whittaker,
who rose so rapidly from the federal district and circuit courts to the United States Supreme Court is the
subject of Craig Alan Smith’s book, Failing Justice: Charles Evans Whittaker on the Supreme Court. And the
life and great service of the late Richard S. Arnold, one of the Eighth Circuit’s finest and most beloved jurists,
has been the subject of a first rate biography, Judge Richard S. Arnold: A Legacy of Justice on the Federal Bench,
authored by Professor Polly J. Price, one of Judge Arnold’s former law clerks.
1
14 Stat. 209 (July 23, 1866). 2
15 Stat. 5 (March 25, 1867). 3
19 Stat. 61 (June 26, 1876); 26 Stat. 1548 (November 2, 1889); 26 Stat.222, 225
(July 10, 1890). 4
Theodore J. Fetter, A History of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth
Circuit 5-6 (1977). 5See generally Edward H. Stiles, Judge John F. Dillon, 9 Anals of Iowa 1
(April 1909); Edward H. Stiles, Judge John F. Dillon, 9 Anals of Iowa (1909-1910);
George S. Clay, John Forrest Dillon, 23 Green Bag 447, (1911); The Late John Forrest
Dillon, 21 Case & Comment 1 (1914); John Forrest Dillon, 26 Green Bag 333, (1914);
J.A. Swisher, John F. Dillon, 10 Palimpsest 317 (Sept. 1929); George W. Clark,
John Forrest Dillon, Lawyer and Man, 28 Anals of Iowa 167 (Jan. 1947); George Mills & Ricahrd
W. Peterson, No One is Above the Law: The Story of Southern Iowa's Federal Court
24-30 (1994). 6
Fetter, supra note 4, at 6-7. 7Id. at 7-8. 8Id. at 8-9 & 15-16. 9
26 Stat. 826 (March 3, 1891). 10
Fetter, supra note 4, at 12. 11
Thomas H. Boyd, Walter Sanborn and the Eighth Circuit Court, 26 Ramsey
County Hist. 22, 25 (No. 2, 1991) 12
Fetter, supra note 4, at 18. 13
29 Stat. 876 (January 4, 1896); 35 Stat. 2160 (November 16, 1907); 37 Stat. 1729 (February 6, 1912). 14
Fetter, supra note 4, at 19. 15Id. at 21-22. 16See generally United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Memorial
Service for Kimbrough Stone, 255 F.2d 3 (1958). 17
Fetter, supra note 4, at 28-30. 18Id. at 41. 19
45 Stat. 1346 (February 28, 1929). 20
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Memorial
Service for the Honorable Archibald K. Gardner, 313 F.2d 5 (1962).
21See generally Charles E. Whittaker, A Tribute to Judge John B. Sanborn, 44
Minn. L. Rev. 197 (1959); Gunnar H. Nordbye, A Tribute to Judge John B. Sanborn,
Minn. L. Rev. 200 (1959). 22
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Memorial
Service for the Honorable John B. Sanborn, Jr., 338 F.2d 5, 19-20 (8th Cir. 1964).
23
Thomas H. Boyd, The Life and Career of the Honorable John B. Sanborn, Jr.,
23 Wm. Mitch. L. Rev. 203, 300-302 (1997). 24See generally United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Memorial
Proceedings of the Honorable Joseph W. Woodrough, 583 F.2d 7 (1978). 25See generally United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Memorial
Proceedings for the Honorable Seth Thomas, 314 F.2d 5 (1962). 26
Fetter, supra note 4, at 59-61. 27See generally United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Memorial
Service for the Honorable Charles J. Vogel, 648 F.2d LXIII (1981). 28Id. at LXXVII. 29See generally Gerald W. Heaney, Judge Martin Donald Van
Oosterhout: The Big Judge from Orange City, Iowa, 79 Iowa L. Rev. 1 (1993). 30See generally United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Ceremony for Unveiling of Portrait of Chief Judge Marion C. Matthes, 822 F.2d XCIII (1987). 31See generally United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Memorial
Proceedings for the Honorable Pat Mehaffy, 654 F.2d LXXI (1981). 32See generally C. Arlen Beam, Chief Judge Harvey M. Johnsen -
A Prophet With Honor, 20 Creighton L. Rev. 949 (1987). 33
Fetter, supra note 4, at 72-73. 34See generally United States Supreme Court, Memorial
Proceedings for the Honorable Charles Evans Whitaker, 94 S.Ct. 5 (1975). 35
Fetter, supra note 4, at 78; Nomination of William H. Webster to be
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Senate Committee on the Judiciary (Gov't Printing Office 1978); Nomination of William H. Webster to be Director of Central Intelligence Agency, Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence (Gov't Printing Office 1987). 36
Fetter, supra note 4, at 62-64. 37
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Presentation of the Portrait of the Honorable Donald P. Lay, 979 F.2d XCVII, XCIX
(1993).
