Osage River Indian Agency (Kansas)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Miami, Peoria, Wea, Kaskaskia, Piankeshaw, Potawatomi, Ottawa, Chippewa, Sauk and Fox, Kansa

History
The Osage River Agency was established in 1837 as a subagency. Prior to that, the Indians of the Osage River Agency had been under the jurisdiction of the Delaware and Shawnee Agency from 1824-1834, a subagency for the Ottawa, Shawnee, and other Indians from 1834-1835, and the Northern Agency from 1835-1837. These were predecessors of the Fort Leavenworth Agency and much of the correspondence relating to them are included in the correspondence filed under Fort Leavenworth Agency. The subagency headquarters was located near the site of Paolo, Kansas.

In 1847, the name of the Sac and Fox Agency was changed to the Osage River Agency, and the Indians that had been under the Osage River Subagency were assigned to that agency. The Osage River Agency was also assigned the Sauk and Fox of the Mississippi who had moved to the Osage River area from Iowa, and the Kansa Indians who were transferred from the Fort Leavenworth Agency.

In the reorganization of 1851, the Sauk and Fox and the Chippewa were assigned to the new Sac and Fox Agency. The Kansa were assigned to the new Potawatomi Agency. The Wea, Piankeshaw, Kaskaskia, Peoria, and Miami Indians all remained with the Osage River Agency.

The Osage River Agency was discontinued in 1871. The Miami Indians in Kansas were assigned to the Shawnee Agency. Most of the other Indians had moved or were moving to Indian Territory and were under the Neosho Agency until 1871 and then under the Quapaw Agency.

Sub Agents and Appointment Dates
Anthony L. Davis 1837, Joshua Carpenter 1843, and Alfred J. Vaughn 1844

Agents and Appointment Dates
Solomon P. Sublette 1847, James S. Rains 1848, Charles N. Handy 1849, John r. Chenault 1850, Asbury M. Coffey 1851, Ely Moore 1853, Maxwell McCaslin 1855, Seth Clover 1858, Gustavus A. Colton 1861, and James Stanley 1869

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.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Osage River Agency, 1824-1871, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 642-651. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their. Letters filed under this heading includes some correspondence from the predecessors of the Osage River Subagency and Agency.