The initial Supreme Court of the United States consisted of a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. The Court’s first Chief Justice was John Jay. The Justices would hand down their very first official opinion in the case of West v. Barnes on Aug. 3, 1791. During the first 101 years of the Court’s existence, the Justices had to “ride circuit” to hold Circuit Court in each judicial district twice yearly. Source: SupremeCourt.gov