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Show 114 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. # their papers on file, lest they should be barred by the terms of the pro-posed act. There are in the Bl e~o f the office, but not yet entered upon its hooks (included, however, in the foregoing total, as above stated), 954 claims, involving $1,135,606, which were filed before a commission authorized by a clause in the Indian appropriation act approved March 3,1837 (5 Stat., 162), and are known as claims on account of depreda-tions comm~tted by the Creelr and Seminole Indians during their war of 1836-'37. The clause iu the appropriation act is as follows : That the sum of 55,000 be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, out of any money , in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to enable the President of the United s . States by suitable agents to inquire what depredstiona were oommitted by the Sem-inole and Creek Indians on the property of oitisena of Florida, Georgia, and Ala-bama immediately before the oommenoement of actual hostilities on the part of said respeotiw tribes of Iodiens; whet amount of depredations were committed during the pendency of said hastilitiea; what portion of the Creek tribe were engaged in anoh hostilities, and whac depredations have been committed by a remnant of sdd tribe supposed to be friendly and a part of whom were aotnolly employed against the Seminoles, siuoe the removal of the main bodi of them wost of the Miasissippi, and that the President report the information so acquired to Congress at its next aessioo: Prouidad, Nothing hereinbefore contained shall be so oonstrued as to sub- ' jeot the United States to pay for depredations not provided for by the sctof April gtb, 1816, end the acts amendatory thereto, nor by acts regulating the intercourse between the Indian tribes and rhe United States. The claims provided for in the foregoing section were examined by that conlmission (as appears in Ex. Doc. H. R. 127, Twenty-fifth Cou-gress, second session), and reported upon November 28, 1837, which report was, January 27,1838, transmitted by President Van Buren to Cocgress for its consideration. No further action seems to have been kaken, and the claims were returned to the files of the Indian Office (at that time part of the War Department), where they have since re-mained. Petitions regarding many of them have been filed in the Court ,of Claims, nuder the act of March 3, 1891, and they will now be regn-larly entered upon the records, as they should have been originally, and will be treated a8 other depredation claims. The following tables will show the total number of daims filed and disposed of during the last fiscal year : TABLE! 13.-Number of depredation claims on hand and receivsd sinoe March 3, 1895. Nnmbar of claims. -. claims on account of dapredstioas aommitted by Creek and Seminole Indians in 1335'37. flled before the Commission anthor~redb y act of Congress, ap. roved Maroh 3, 10'37 ......................................................... 954 cP. on tile Xsroh 3. 1885 .................................................................................... 3,846 clal.ima tiled between Mamk 3and Jnoe30, 1886 93 ~laimati led doring fiscal para ending June 30- 1886.. ...................................................................... 168 1837 109 1888 ......................................................................... 769 1889 509 Total ........................................... : ................. 1 7,885 ( Amount -involved. |
