Some of you with plans to visit the Archives might find this excerpt useful. It is on the NARA site and I did track down their other information on these boxes there. From what I turned up so far, other than one index book these records have not been microfilmed and can only be accessed at the National Archives. However, since this was written I know many, many more collections have been filmed and sent to Atlanta, so this could possibly be there or at other satellite National Archives locations. As I understood the article, even though the applications were received at one Arkansas office, they applied to any former Indian territory lands that the government was opening for settlement. Evelyn S. Leslie Indian Bounty Land Applications By Mary Frances Morrow An act of March 3, 1855 (10 Stat. L. 701) extended military bounty land laws to Indians, entitling veterans from the Revolutionary War and the Indian Wars of 1818 and 1836 to warrants that could be exchanged for public lands. A few earlier acts had specified bounty lands for Indians, but this act marked the first time land was made available on a large scale. Applications for Indian Bounty Lands Applications were taken by Indian agents in the Indian Territory west of Arkansas in the years immediately following the act. The records are now a part of Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans Administration (entry 27 of Preliminary Inventory NM-22, "Case files of bounty land warrant applications of Indians based on service between 1812 and 1855"). They consist of forty-five boxes of envelopes, around a hundred per box. The envelopes are identified on the outside as "Bounty Land Files, Act of 1855." The name of the veteran is given, his grade, service date, company commander, tribal affiliation, and the warrant number and number of acres. The applications have been arranged alphabetically by the name of the veteran. These names are primarily transcriptions of Indian names, such as In-to-yo-ye, Ish-tar-yi-see, or Soks-set-he-ne-ha. Whenever second names appear, the order is by the first name. For example, Ne-har-locco Harjo is filed under N. Inside the envelope is an application, usually a printed form with the appropriate blanks filled in by the Indian agent. The form typically gives the name of the veteran and establishes the veteran's eligibility for bounty lands through military service in a particular war. There is confirmation of the veteran's service in the form of statements and signatures of witnesses. The claimant might be the veteran, his widow, or a minor heir. Different forms were used for each according to specifications by the Office of Indian Affairs. The form established the right of the claimant to the benefits of the veteran. The application was originally enclosed in a wrapper, which was used to summarize the contents. Notations on the wrapper include application number, date, name, name of company commander and Indian Nation, dates of service, whether or not the name was found on the rolls by the Treasury Department auditor, the number of the warrant that was issued and the date, and on the back, a volume and page reference. The volume and page numbers on the wrappers refer to books such as the "Choctaw" volume, or volume "1," as yet not located. The related bounty application records in Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, do not correspond to these references. The actual warrants are arranged by the act and the number of acres and warrant number, and they are filed with the General Land Office records in Record Group 49. Most of the envelopes also contain a slip of paper that has written on it the warrant number and the number of acres. Other occasional enclosures include letters of transmittal from the commissioner of Indian affairs to the commissioner of pensions and affidavits from the Office of the Third Auditor saying that a particular name was or was not found on the rolls. Tribes represented by the veterans include primarily the Five Civilized Tribes: Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Seminole. There are also a large number of other tribes included, such as the Seneca, Tonawanda, Shawnee, Delaware, Onandaga, Menominee, Oneida, Tuscarora, Green Bay, and Stockbridge. There are a few Pueblo, New Mexico (Jicarilla Apache), Yankton, and Pottowatomie. The periods of service include the War of 1812, the 1818 Seminole War, the 1836 Florida War, and the Cherokee Removal. Genealogical information on the application includes the name of the veteran (usually his Indian name); his age or death date; his wife's name and age; sometimes the marriage date and place; the names, ages, and places of birth of surviving children; the Indian tribe or nation; the town of residence; and the names and ages of witnesses and guardians. Indexes and Abstracts Relating to the Applications The related records in Record Group 75 include an index (entry 544 in Preliminary Inventory No. 163, "Index to abstract list of Indian applicants for military bounty lands") giving names of both veterans and heirs in alphabetical order. Other information in the index includes the tribal affiliation, a reference to "Book A" and page, and an abbreviation for "Warrant Issued." Book A (entry 545, "Abstract list of Indian applicants for military bounty lands") is a list of Indian applicants for military bounty land under the act of March 3, 1855, showing the name, tribe, service and length thereof, names of officers under whom service is claimed, date of the completion of papers sent, name and post office address of agent or representative, date of receipt at Office of Indian Affairs, date when sent to the Pension Office, date of warrant, number of warrant, when and (if to another than the person who sent the application) to whom sent, to whom transferred, date of transfer, and the consideration paid therefore. There is also a Book B, with the same type of information, but no index for it.