Eastern Navajo Indian Agency (New Mexico)

The Eastern Navajo Agency is one of five currently operating administrative jurisdictions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the Navajo Reservation. It is located in Crownpoint, New Mexico and its supervising office is the Navajo Area Office. A map of the roads on the Navajo Reservation, created in 2008, is available online.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Navajo

History
The Eastern Navajo Agency was established in 1901 from the division of the old Navajo Agency, which was created in 1852. It operated under the name Pueblo Bonito Agency until 1 January 1927. On 1 July 1935, it was consolidated with other Navajo agencies to form one agency called the Navajo Service, with headquarters at Window Rock, Arizona. In 1949, the Window Rock Area Office was formed and the Eastern Navajo Agency was a subagency for several years, eventually regaining its independent status.

Agents
Spencer M. Baird 1852, Henry Dodge 1853, William R. Harley 1857, Robert J. Cowart 1858, Silas F. Kendrick 1859, John Ward1861, Theodore H. Dodd 1865, James C. French 1869, Capt. F.T. Bennett 1869, James H. Miller 1870, W.F. Hall 1872, William F.M. Arny 1873, Alexander G. Irvine 1875, John E. Pyle 1877, and Capt. F. T. Bennett 1880

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.

A few records of the Eastern Navajo Agency are in the Pacific Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Los Angeles, including some school files, 1912-1916, and other administrative records, 1909-1944. A few employee assistance case files, 1952-1961 are in the National Archives Rocky Mountain Region (Denver).

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Eastern Navajo Agency, 1927-1935, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 33-34, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, beginning with their.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1929-1935. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 98 thru 103. Copies of these records are also available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch Library and its family history centers (their microfilm numbers ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.


 * 1937 Census Eastern Reservation FS Library film 579685 (part of the above collection)

Records Available Through the FamilySearch Library

 * School Records 1902-1929 FS Library Film: 1249708 Items 4-5, 1266696-1266698