Gila River Indian Agency (Arizona)

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Pima, Papago, Maricopa, and Tame Apache

History
The Gila River Agency existed for only two years -- 1864-1865 -- under that name. Its forerunner was the Pima, Papago, and Maricopa Agency and its successor was the Pima Agency. The earliest known records for the Pima Agency begin in 1888.

Agents and Appointment Dates
M. O. Davidson (special) appointed February 24, 1864. Appointed September 12, 1865 agent for Pima and Maricopa

Levi Ruggles (special) April 28, 1866

Captain. F. E. Grossman (special) July 23, 1869

Edward Palmer (special) February 8, 1871

J.H.Stout (special) May 25, 1871 as agent July 23, 1872second time October 6,1876

Charles Hudson March 1, 1876

Abram B. Ludlam June 30, 1879

Records
Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value (for the tribe and tribal members) were created by and maintained by the agencies.

No known records of the Gila River Agency have survived. Later records of the same locality and jurisdiction are part of the Pima Agency records.

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Gila River Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Pima Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 79, Gila River Reservation in Maricopa County, Arizona and in District 79, Gila River Indian Reservation, in Pinal County, Arizona.