Pine Ridge Indian Agency (South Dakota)

The Pine Ridge Agency is a currently operating agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Its supervising office is the Aberdeen Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho

History
The Red Cloud Agency was established in 1871 on the North Platte River near Fort Laramie in eastern Wyoming, primarily for the the Oglala Sioux Indians. The agency was moved in 1873 to a site in what is now northeastern Nebraska, on the White River. In 1877, it was moved to the Missouri River at the mouth of Medicine Creek in what is now South Dakota. In 1878, it moved to White Clay Creek and was renamed the Pine Ridge Agency.

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.

Some records for the Pine Ridge Agency are in the Central Plains Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Kansas City, including:


 * Annuity and allotment records, 1877-1941
 * School census records, 1895-1953
 * Student folders, 1921-1955
 * Criminal case files, 1927-1960
 * School attendance and enrollment records, 1930-1943
 * And other administrative and fiscal records, 1871-1967

Reports of Inspection of the Field Jurisdictions of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1873-1900 have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of Microcopy Number M1070. The reports for Pine Ridge Agency, 1880-1895 and 1897-1900, are on rolls 26-37 of that Microcopy set. Copies are available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their ).

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1887, 1886-1888, 1890, 1892-1905, 1907, 1913, 1915-1939, and 1942-1943. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 362 thru 384. Copies of these records are also available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Pine Ridge Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Pine Ridge Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 46, Pine Ridge Agency], in Shannon County, South Dakota.

Miscellaneous Letters Sent by the Agents or Superintendents at the Pine Ridge Indian Agency, 1876-1914. M1229. 76 rolls. (first film of 76).

Letters Sent to the Office of Indian Affairs by the Pine Ridge Agency, 1875-1914. M1282. 52 rolls. (first film of 52)

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Pine Ridge Agency, 1907-1935, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, rolls 106-107, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (their ).

Records Available through the Family History Library

 * Annuity Rolls, 1907-1931. FHL Film: 1014644-1014648


 * Land Allotment Records, 1904-1944 FHL Film: 1014649-1014650, and 1014640, and 1002767-1002768, and 1014641


 * Grazing Assignments 1928-1950 FHL Film: 1014642, 1002762-1002766, 1014643


 * Heirship or Probate FHL Film: 1014638, 1002760-61, and 1014639 - Film incorrectly titled Red Cloud Agency


 * Land Patents 1912-1920 FHL Film: 1014641 item 2 index item 3


 * Census Records 1886-1943 FHL Film: 580741-580763


 * Census Records 1897-1932 FHL Film: 1014634, and 1002754-1002757


 * Occupation 1878-1881. Supplies and Stores transported from Missouri River by the Indian train and freighters, FHL Film: 1014644


 * School Records 1925-1958 FHL Film: 1002758-1002759


 * Vital Records Birth and Death Records 1924-1932. FHL Film: 580758


 * Vital Records 1897-1918 FHL Film: 1014636-1014637 items 1-10
 * marriages 1888-1936 FHL Film: 1014637 Items 13-14 and Film: 1014638


 * Vital Records 1946-1948. FHL Film: 1014637 Item 11