David Bentzin earned his Master of Science degree in Geology from the University of Montana in 1960. Upon graduation, Bentzin moved to Casper, Wyoming, where he worked as a geologist for petroleum companies. In 1975, the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana brought suit against the United States alleging that the government was deficient in its management of the tribe’s oil and gas resources. The tribe believed that the United States government had permitted the allotment of the Blackfeet Reservation to individual Native Americans without reservation of the mineral estate to the Blackfeet tribe. The tribe also alleged that the federal government had discouraged development of Blackfeet oil and gas revenues and that the government had drained oil and gas from tribal lands to non-tribal lands. David Bentzin was presented as an expert witness for the Blackfeet Tribe in his capacity as a petroleum geologist. Bentzin developed a case for the Blackfeet based on the uneven oil and gas development of the Blackfeet portion of the Cutbank Oil field by the Bureau of Indian Affairs relative to the development authorized by the Bureau of Land Management on adjacent, non-tribal parcels. The Blackfeet Tribe was eventually awarded $5 million in damages by the United States Government.
From the guide to the David A. Bentzin expert witness files, 1975-1979, (University of Montana-Missoula Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)
