Malinda Thurston v. United States

• Decision Date: 24 February 1914
• Citation: 34 S.Ct. 394,58 L.Ed. 688,232 U.S. 469
• Parties: MALINDA THURSTON, Administratrix, Appt., v. UNITED STATES and Ute Indians
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

232 U.S. 469

34 S.Ct. 394

58 L.Ed. 688

MALINDA THURSTON, Administratrix, Appt.,

v UNITED STATES and Ute Indians. Submitted December 22, 1913. Decided February 24, 1914.

No. 605.

Messrs. Harry Peyton, F. Sprigg Perry, and John W. Clark for appellant.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 469-473 intentionally omitted] Assistant Attorney General Thompson for appellees.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 473-475 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice Van Devanter delivered the opinion of the court:

This suit was begun in the court of claims in 1892, under the Indian depredation act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. at L. 851, chap. 538, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 758), to recover from the United States and the Ute Indians the value of certain personal property alleged to have belonged to appellant's intestate, and to have been taken and destroyed by members of the Ute tribe in 1857. It was also alleged that the claim had been presented to, and was pending before, the House of Representatives in 1877 and 1878. The allegations of the petition were traversed, and a trial resulted in a judgment of dismissal for want of jurisdiction, upon the ground that the claim accrued before July 1, 1865, and had not been presented to Congress, or any officer authorized to inquire into such claims, prior to the act of 1891, and so was not cognizable under that act.

The facts disclosed in the findings, and material to be noticed, are these: The depredation occurred at Mountain Meadows, Utah, September 11, 1857, while the appellant's intestate was en route, with an emigrant train, from Arkansas to California, his life being taken at the time. In 1877 and again in 1878 one of his daughters, on behalf of his heirs, presented to Congress a petition praying that they be reimbursed for the property from the public treasury. The petitions, as also the accompanying affidavits, represented that the depredation was committed by Mormons acting under the direction of Brigham Young, and contained no suggestion that it was in anywise chargeable to the Ute Indians or to any Indians. In response to each of the petitions a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives, reciting that the depredation was com- mitted by Mormons at the instance of Brigham Young, and making an appropriation to reimburse the heirs as prayed in the petition, but neither bill was passed, and the claim was not otherwise recognized by Congress. In no other way or form was the claim presented to or pending before any department of the government, or any of its officers or agents, prior to the passage of the act of 1891.

Preliminarily, it is well to observe that the court of claims has no general jurisdiction over claims against the United States, and can take cognizance only of those which, by the terms of some act of Congress, are committed to it. Johnson v. United States, 160 U. S. 546, 549, 40 L. ed. 529, 531, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 377.

Turning to the act of 1891 we find that it is not couched in general terms, but, on the contrary, carefully specifies what claims may be considered, and as carefully points out some which it is intended shall not be considered. It is entitled, 'An act to Provide for the Adjudication and Payment of Claims Arising from Indian Depredations.' Its 1st section empowers the court to inquire into and adjudicate, among others not material here, 'all claims for property of citizens of the United States, taken or destroyed by Indians belonging to any band, tribe, or nation in amity with the United States, without just cause or provocation on the part of the owner or agent in charge, and not returned or paid for.' And the 2d section declares:

'That all questions of limitations as to time and manner of presenting claims are hereby waived, and no claim shall be excluded from the jurisdiction of the court because not heretofore presented to the Secretary of the Interior or other officer or department of the government: Provided, That no claim accruing prior to July first, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, shall be considered by the court unless the claim shall be allowed or has been or is pending, prior to the passage of this act, before...