Horace Gray

“ But congress reserved to itself the determination of such claims, and enacted that the surveyor general for the territory, under the instructions of the secretary of the interior, should ascertain the origin, nature, character, and extent of all such claims, and for this purpose might issue notices, summon witnesses, administer oaths, and do all other necessary acts, and should make a full report on such claims, with his decision as to the validity or invalidity of each under the laws, usages, and customs of the country before its cession to the United States ”

“ The action of congress, when taken, being conclusive upon the merits of the claim, it necessarily follows that the judiciary cannot act upon the matter while it is pending before congress; for, if congress should decide the same way as the court, the judgment of the court would be nugatory, and, if congress should decide the other way, its decision would control. ”