Fifthly. That these documents have been gotten up by and between Luis Muzquiz, William Stone, and Coopwood, doubtless with the assistance of the local Mexican adge. THE PROPER DISPOSITION OF THE CLAIMS. Upon this state of facts it will become necessary for the commissioners to determine whether or not the entire body of these Piedras Negras claims should not be rejected, on the ground of fraud practiced or attempted to be practiced against the United States in the expedientes on file in the office of the commission. On behalf of the United States the undersigned contends that such disposition should be given to these claims. The proofs on file, he contends, are not entitled to be received in evidence and read in support of the claims. They are all tainted with fraud, and are vitiated thereby absolutely and entirely. The cases, therefore, stand as if they were entirely without attempted proof. They should be rejected and dismissed for want of evidence to support them. There is an analogy in the legislation of the United States which might also be profitably considered in connection with these claims, in view of the fraud to which we have referred. We allude to that provision of the statute of March 3, 1863, concerning the Court of Claims, which declares: "That any person or persons who shall corruptly practice or attempt to practice any fraud against the United States in the proof, statement, establishment, or allowance of any claim against the United States, ipso facto, shall forfeit the same to the government; and it shall be the duty of the Court of Claims, in such cases, to find specifically that such frand was practiced or attempted to be practiced, and thereupon give judgment that such claim is forfeited to the government, and that the claimant be forever barred from prosecuting the same." (12 Stats., p. 767.) This statute proceeds on the ground of forfeiture; but the special ground on which the undersigned now asks the rejection of these claims is, that the documents filed in evidence on behalf of the petitioners before this commission are shown to be utterly untrustworthy, and therefore inadmissible as proof in support of the reclamations. If, however, contrary to the view now presented, the commissioners determine to make awards in any cases, it will be necessary to determine who among all these elaimants there is just reason to believe were Mexican citizens residing in the place and were owners of property, or subjected to injury, at the time of the occurrence, and to estimate the damages according to the effect of the evidence introduced by the United States. Under this rule of decision the number of cases in which awards can be made will be extremely limited, and the amount of the awards will be exceedingly small. In no possible contingency, however, will the commissioners be entitled upon these proofs to award in the aggregate a greater amount than $50,000. If they should believe that every house in the town was burned, and every dollar's worth of property destroyed and carried away, and that every individual here appearing was an actual sufferer, and is entitled to appear as a claimant against the United States, the above amount is the largest which could possibly be distributed as awards among these claimants. In the confident belief, however, that sufficient has been shown to justify the commissioners in rejecting the entire body of claims, the foregoing observations are submitted for their consideration. The undersigned prints herewith the depositions taken on behalf of the United States. He also submits, in connection with this argument, a manuscript volume, containing a full list of the claimants and of the witnesses, whose names are attached to the expedientes, and also a complete abstract of the claims, giving schedules and amounts of all the property for the alleged loss of which indemnity is claimed, together with observations upon each claim which will aid the commissioners in appreciating the full extent of the fraud here attempted. This book has been carefully prepared by a skillful hand, with a view to facilitate the investigation of these cases. J. HUBLEY ASHTON, DEPOSITIONS TAKEN ON THE PART OF THE UNITED STATES. The deponent, being duly sworn, says: In the summer and fall of 1855 I was a captain of artillery in the Army of the United States, and was stationed at Fort Duncan, in Texas, situated on the east side of the Rio Grande, nearly opposite to the town or village of Piedras Negras, in Mexico. While stationed there I frequently visited Piedras Negras, and had a fair opportunity of acquiring some knowledge of the coun try in the neighborhood, and of the resources, business, and loss sustained from its invasion by a party of armed Texans in October, 1855. The town or village of Piedras Negras contained at that time not more than eight hundred persons, and was situ ated about one mile from Fort Duncan. They were very poor, being principally a fluctuating population of Mexican herders and carriers, with their families, who resided in huts built of adobe, covered with a coarse grass, with earthed floors. There were about one hundred of these huts, and probably ten others with gravel roofs. There was but one two-story brick house, the property of a man named Rich, which was not molested, and was the principal place of business. There was considerable transit trade in raw cotton and bonded goods from the United States; corn, hides, lead, wool, and brood mares to the United States, the freight mainly carried on oxcarts. The country was unproductive and without cultivation. The Texans remained about twenty-four hours, barricading the streets with ox-carts and setting tire to these grass-covered huts, which were easily consumed, with a number of ox-carts, besides destroying all they could belonging to the defenseless people, after which they recrossed to the Texas side of the river in a panic, using the flatboats and skiffs, and in such haste that their own horses were abandoned until they could subsequently return for them. I am of the opinion that no heavy articles were carried away, and it is impossible for me to state the value of any property stolen or destroyed, beyond the fact that the impoverished condition of the inhabitants, their insufficient clothing and scanty subsistence, prove the impossibility of their being pillaged to any large amount. JAMES B. RICKETTS, Major-General United States Army (retired). Deposition of Sidney Burbank, Brevet Brigadier-General United States Army (retired). The deponent, being duly sworn, deposes and says: I was a captain in the Army of the United States in October, 1855, and was stationed at Fort Duncan, Texas, and in command at that post. I had a fair opportunity of knowing something of the population and business of the people, and could very well judge of their wealth or poverty. Fort Duncan was established in the spring of 1849, at which time there were no inhabitants on either side of the river, up or down, for a great number of miles. The town of Piedras Negras, situated directly opposite Fort Duncan, was settled and grew up after the establishment of that post. The inhabitants were very poor, and lived mostly, if not entirely, from the small trade carried on with the troops stationed at Fort Duncan and the dependents thereon, and such employment as was given them from time to time by the government as guides, muleteers, and laborers. Occasionally there were Mexican troops stationed at Piedras Negras, but it was not a regular garrisoned place, and the inhabitants could receive but little support from this source. In October, 1855, I should judge the number of inhabitants to be about five hundred, men, women, and children. The houses, huts, or dwellings of the inhabitants were of the cheapest construction, built of adobes or upright poles and thatched with grass; in some cases the dwellings were caves or excavations in the banks of the river, and these dwellings were furnished in a manner equally plain and cheap. In my opinion, these houses or huts could not cost, on an average, more than $50, and the furnishing could not exceed that amount. There were to the best of my knowledge and belief from eighty to one hundred of these huts or houses burned by the Texans on the 6th of October, 1855, and the entire and total damage caused by the conflagration would not exceed, in my estimation, $10,000. S. BURBANK, Brevet Brigadier-General, United States Army. Deposition of Edmund W. Wallace. The deponent, being duly sworn, says: That he is an American citizen by birth, is forty years of age, and is residing at Georgetown, District of Columbia. That in 1850 he sojourned at Fort Duncan, where he was in business in connection with his brother, who was sutler to the post; that he remained so in business until 1853, when he was appointed deputy collector of customs at Eagle Pass, Tex., directly opposite Piedras Negras, by Mr. Guthrie, the Secretary of the United States Treasury. He remained such collector, discharging the duties of his office, until March, 1861. His business office was in Fort Duncan, contiguous to Eagle Pass. His business and residence afforded him fair opportunities of becoming very well acquainted with the town of Piedras Negras, he having almost daily intercourse with it, and becoming acquainted with very many of the inhabitants, their occupations, and pursuits. He was in that town when it was burned by the troops under the command of Captains Callahan and Henry, who were said to be in the service of the State of Texas. He estimates the number of the inhabitants of Piedras Negras at the time of the burning, including men, women, and children, at about eight hundred souls, and they were generally very poor indeed. Some of them, perhaps a majority of the heads of families, were owners of small lots of cattle, which were allowed to graze during the day-time in the neighborhood, and which were brought up to the village at night for protection against the Indians. Some of them were owners of carts and ox-teams, and were engaged in freighting between San Antonio and Eagle Pass. Some of them were little shop-keepers, having a meager supply of miserable Malaga wine, mescal, cigarritos, and other little articles. Some few, also, had Mexican blankets for sale. There were four stores, and he can remember no more, which had a better supply of goods-one managed by Mr. Rich, one by Mr. Duclos, one by Mr. Oswald, and one by Mr. Stone. He thinks that the supply of goods which these four stores may have had on hand at the time of the burning could not have exceeded in value $100,000 in the aggregate, and he does not know that the value was as great. The goods in the little shops and stores could not, in his opinion, have exceeded in value $75,000. The retail trade of the town of Piedras Negras was mostly carried on across the river at Eagle Pass, the inhabitants buying there their coffee, sugar, calicoes and other dress-goods, and no considerable stock of goods was kept at Piedras Negras. The houses in Piedras Negras were mostly small, built of adobe, and thatched with a species of country grass or straw. The military barracks on the plaza were covered with a kind of concrete roof. There was one brick house in town, belonging to Mr. Rich. There were no frame or wooden houses in the town. The honses were generally without floors, and were worth, generally, on an average, about $400 apiece. The deponent built an adobe honse at Fort Duncan for his use, better than the average of houses in Piedras Negras, at a cost of $500; the labor employed was Mexican. The furniture of the houses was meager in quantity and very primitive in character. He thinks, on an average, the furniture to each house was not worth over $100, including the whole, beds, bedding, &c. Their little gardens about in the village produced very little; some little cultivation was carried on out of town in the neighborhood. The Mexicans are generally fond of jewelry, but the inhabitants of Piedras Negras were so poor that the quantity in that town was inconsiderable. It was very uncommon to find a watch among the inhabitants. The food of the inhabitants consisted of tortillas, jerked beef, and peppers. The corn they ground by hand-mills. Thirty bushels of corn on hand at the time of the burning is a reasonable estimate for each family, and, calculating about six persons in each family, there were about one hundred and thirty-three families. The price of corn was from $1 to $1.25 per bushel. There was a considerable number of ox-carts in the town, of very simple and primitive character, the wheel being generally composed of one piece. There were a few modern carts, with hubs, spokes, and iron tires. The deponent thinks it likely that a number, perhaps thirty or forty, of these were burned, as he saw them piled together in the form of a barricade. They were worth on an average about $40 apiece. The Callahan troops did not carry off any carts, oxen, cows, or other animals, and he does not think any considerable number of these could have been lost by the occupation and burning of the town by Callahan. It is possible some few may have stampeded and strayed off, but deponent thinks not many. The deponent says that he was messing with the officers at Fort Duncan at the time the burning took place, and he knows that no officer or soldier of that post participated therein or sanctioned it in any manner. Himself and Dr. Wood were in Piedras Negras, from curiosity, in the afternoon of the day that the town was fired. As soon as they discovered that the town was being fired, they immediately crossed the river to the American side. The town of Piedras Negras was not compactly built, but scattered over an area of about a quarter of a mile square. The brick house referred to was not burned. The deponent resided at Fort Duncan twelve years, and knew the people of Piedras Negras very well. The deponent says he has no interest in any claim before the commission. EDMUND W. WALLACE. [Translation.] STATE OF TEXAS, Maverick County, 88: Deposition of Manuel Ban, of Eagle Pass, Texas, taken on behalf of the United States, and intended to be used before the joint commission between the United States and Mexico in the matter of various claims now pending before that said commission. The said MANUEL BAN, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: I was born in the State of Arkansas, in the United States of the North; I am an American citizen, and resident of Eagle Pass; thirty-nine years of age, and a carpenter by occupation. I am well acquainted with Piedras Negras since the year 1851. Since the 24th of June, 1855, I have lived in Eagle Pass, and during the time before and after the destruction of Piedras Negras by Texas volunteers, under the orders of Callahan and Henry, my business, as agent of one of the business houses of Eagle Pass, obliged me to go every day, and even five times a day, to Piedras Negras. I was acquainted with almost every house and cabin in Piedras Negras, and also the greater part of the inhabitants. At the time of the burning by the aforesaid Texans, it did not have more than three or four hundred houses. Juan José Patiño had a house about ten varas (yards) long and four and a half wide; José Ma. Flores had a house in dimensions a little more or less than that of Patiño; Doña Isabel Miñan also had a house, and, besides these three houses, it had houses which were the quarters of troops, and in one of these Captain Saiz, the husband of Doña Onofre Villareal, lived, and when the burning took place Captain Saiz was not in the town, and Doña Onofre Villareal alone in the house. Besides the houses mentioned, the dwellings consisted of huts, cabins, and strawthatched huts, the number of which did not exceed one hundred and twenty-five; it only had three streets. The inhabitants in general were excessively poor, with the exception of eight or ten persons who had means of living. One of these was Jesus Maria de la Garza; he had a little shop, and, estimating in all conscience the goods, their value did not exceed $3,000; and it was the only store which had supplies. The capital of the other rich people did not exceed from $800 to $1,000. Almost all these had a little bar-room, but they did not have supplies of the goods in which they traded, and they always crossed to Eagle Pass to buy their liquors by a gallon at a time. The majority of the other inhabitants were day-laborers, and who before were soldiers, and I did not know that they had any property besides their labor; some had a little horse, some cows with calves, or a little pig, or a cart to carry water. The dwellings were of a very inferior kind, and the construction of the greater part of them could not have exceeded $100 in cost; they were of mesquite posts, and cov ered with hay or straw. The material for the construction of cabins was then very close to the town. The furniture of the house was little and of very slight cost; the richest, including their furniture and the ornaments of their houses, were not worth above $400. The houses of Doña Isabel Miñan, of Doña Onofre Villareal, of Pedro Lechupia, husband of Doña Dolores Salinas, were the houses best furnished and adorned, but the value of the furniture and adornments could not have exceeded $400. In each hut lived one family, but as every day new emigrants arrived, it might have been that in one or other hut families lived in a crowded state. The number of horses was not large, and the best was not worth above $80, and the majority of them were worth from $15 to $20 each, because they belonged to poor men, who did not have the means to keep a good horse. I believe that all the inhabitants of Piedras Negras together did not lose more than twenty-five horses. I saw the Texans when they crossed from Texas to Mexico, and I saw them all well mounted, and I also saw them when they returned from Piedras Negras, and I believe that the Texans left as many of their own horses in Piedras Negras as they carried away from the inhabitants of Piedras Negras. Very few persons had cows, and a cow with calf was then worth $10. I do not recollect to have seen many fat pigs; a fat pig was worth at that time as much as $25, and I have never seen a fat pig which was worth more at any time before or after, nor have I known of a case where more than $25 was asked for a pig. The persons who had jewelry were few, and all who had wore it, and they had time to hide it before the Texans commenced to rob and burn the houses. From the moment that the Texans crossed to the Mexican bank (side) the families in Piedras Negras began to go out, leaving everything of value, and this flight (emigration) lasted until the volunteers returned after four or five days, when they commenced to rob and burn the houses, and I believe that the inhabitants removed everything which they had of value out of the city, inasmuch as they had time sufficient to do it. The day before the burning of Piedras Negras I went into the majority of the houses, and for this (reason) I know very well what was their situation; I myself assisted families to cross to the American side. The inhabitants in general were very poor; the persons who had more than $300 were very few and very famous. I was acquainted with Mariana Juana Hernandez: she had a few little bottles and some sweetmeats and a little soap; she was a working (laboring) woman, and had a little cabin, joined to a straw-thatched hut, worth $100. The wines and other merchantable effects did not exceed $70 in value. I am acquainted with, and was acquainted with, Lorenzò Guevara; he was very poor; he had a cabin, half above and half under ground; he had nothing, and lived with his mother. I was acquainted with Juan José Patiño; he was poor, and he did not have more than one house, the same which he still has; and I only knew him as a daylaborer, and sometimes he was engaged in the courts and other employments; in the event of his owning carts and property he had them outside. I am acquainted with Santos Loy; he was a soldier, and very poor-a laborer who worked from day to day for a living. I am acquainted with Guadalupe Ramos; he was very poor, and burdened with a family; he lived in a straw-thatched cabin, where he had eight or ten bottles of wine, and he gave balls to support himself in a very straitened way. I am acquainted with Francisco Gonzalez; he was a very poor day-laborer; he did not have property of any kind; he worked on the river to support himself. I am acquainted with Melchora Zimenez; she was very poor, and nothing but her labor with which to support herself; her son Francisco Quiritero lived with her, who was under age, and who had no property separated from his mother. I am acquainted with Geronimo Gonzalez; he was very poor; he had few little carts, with which he supported himself. I am acquainted with Pablo Valadez; he was very poor; he labored with his sons covering cabins in order to support himself; there lived with him his sons, who were under age, Nicanor and Silverio, who did not bave and do not yet have any property separate from their father. I am acquainted with Simon Ramirez; he was a very poor laborer. I am acquainted with Angel Yturriaga; he was an ex-soldier, very poor, and was a servant in the houses of different persons; he worked very little, because he was almost always drunk. I likewise am acquainted with Secundino Barbosa; he was a retired soldier, very poor, a little drunkard, and all his property was an ass. I am acquainted with Manuel Rodrigues; he had a little shop (cabaret), with a few little bottles, and by this he supported himself. I am acquainted with José Ma. Carbajal, who was in the same condition as Barbosa; he was an ex-soldier, and a drunkard. I am acquainted with Victor Gonzalez; he was a silversmith, but he did not have any independent place of business; he was very poor. I do not remember to have seen Gregorio Gonzales at that time, and I believe he was not in Piedras Negras. I was acquainted with Julian Rodriguez before and after the burning of Piedras Negras, but I never knew of his living in Piedras Negras before the year 1862. I am acquainted with Antonio Montez; he was very poor; he had a few little bottles and played the violin. I am acquainted with Jesus Losoya, but he did not live in Piedras Negras. I am acquainted with Jnan N. Lopez; he had some cows, and sold milk; he was poor, and worked wherever they engaged him; in this way he was supported. I was acquainted with Mariano Aguirre for a long time, and at the time of the burning he was not more than thirteen years of age, and never had any property except the clothing which he wore. I am acquainted with Luis Muzquiz; he had nothing else in this world but the pen with which he wrote lies. I am acquainted with Cervero Barrara; he lived with his mother Doña Isabel Miñan; he had little cows, carts, horses, the property of his mother, under his management; she, moreover, had a little shop (cabaret), and was one of the richest. I am acquainted with Pedro Gonzalez; he had no more capital than his carts and little cows, with which he supported himself; he lived in a cabin, but this cabin was not burned, because I saw it afterward. I am acquainted with Juan Cáceres; he was very poor; he worked on halves in a boat (ferry) in order to maintain himself. I am acquainted with Anastasio Gonzalez; he was very poor, and a robber; I did not know that he had any other occupation except to rob, and by this means he supported himself. A few days before the fire he stole stock from the American camp. I am acquainted with Severo de la Luna; he was poor, a day-laborer. I am acquainted with José Ma. Rodriguez; he was very poor; I never knew that he had any property; he was a day-laborer, and a very good worker. I was acquainted with Domingo San Miguel; he had nothing more than the little ornaments of his house, which did not exceed $400 in value. I am acquainted with Jesus Salinas; he lived in a sufficiently dilapidated cabin; he had nothing more than some carts which he had bonght, and these carts were absent on a journey at the time of the fire. I am acquainted with Maria Delila Tauns, and her claim ought to be the same which Domingo San Miguel claims, with whom she lived at that time as wife. I am acquainted with Jesus Ma. Herrera; he was poor, working in a foundery. I am acquainted with Dyonisio Gonzalez; he is the father of Francisco Gonzalez; he was very poor, a daylaborer. I always knew José Jimenez was a very poor devil. I am acquainted with Adelaide Ban; she is my sister; she was a widow, engaged in washing and ironing, and made clothing in order to support herself, and her loss did not exceed $200, and I am convinced that she never intended to claim a cent more than what she lost. I am acquainted with Miguel Patiño; he had carts with which he supported himself, and I think at the time of the fire he was on a journey with the carts. I am acquainted with Catarino Rios; he was poor, working for me as a wagoner on the very day of the fire, when he asked leave to cross to Piedras Negras to see his house. I am acquainted with Leonardo Rodriguez; he was very poor, and worked by the day in order to support himself. I am acquainted with Gabriel G. Cordero; he was a poor man, a card-player. I am acquainted with Julian Ortiz, who is now a guard; and if he is the same who presents a claim for losses caused by the burning of Piedras Negras, I say that he never lived in Piedras Negras at that time; he was a resident of San Juan de Allende. I am acquainted with Jacinto Rodrigues; he is a card-player by profession, and never had anything. I am acquainted with Vidala de la Cerda; he was poor; had fifteen or twenty bottles of wine, and made bread; with this he supported himself. I am acquainted with Eleno Rodriguez; he is the son of Ramon Rodriguez; he lived with his father, and did not have any property whatever separate from his father. I am acquainted with Manuel Perea; he was employed as clerk in the business of Jesus de |