Mackinac Indian Agency (Michigan)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Primarily Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi.

History
The Mackinac (or Michilimackinac) Agency was established in 1815 and was located on Mackinac Island at the north end of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. In 1822, the Sault Ste. Marie Agency was established on the Upper Peninsula. In 1832, Sault Ste. Marie Agency was consolidated into the Mackinac Agency.

In 1835, the Crow Wing Subagency was established, in 1836, the LaPointe Subagency was established, and in 1837, the Sault Ste. Marie Subagency was established, all from former jurisdictions of the Mackinac Agency. The Saginaw Subagency was discontinued in 1846 and the Sault Ste. Marie Subagency was discontinued in 1852, essentially giving the Mackinac Agency sole responsibility for all of the Indians of Michigan. From 1853 to 1858, it even had some responsibility for the Chippewa living along the shores of Lake Superior in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

In 1858, two new agencies reduced the area covered by the Mackinac Agency -- the Chippewa Agency at Sandy Lake, Minnesota and the La Pointe or Chippewa of Lake Superior Agency.

In 1873, the Mackinac Agency moved from Detroit to Lansing, and in 1876, moved to Ypsilanti. This Mackinac Agency was abolished in 1889.

A later Mackinac Agency for the Chippewa of Lake Superior living on the L'Anse and Ontonagon Reservations in Michigan was established in 1899. It was consolidated with the Lac du Flambeau Agency, 1 July 1927.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Willima H. Puthuff December 29, 1815, George Boyd August 13, 1818, Henry R. Schoolcraft assigned to consolidate MacKinac and Sault Ste. Marie Agencies April 18, 1832, Robert Stuart April 17, 1841, William A. Richmond April 14, 1845, Charles B. Babcock April 11, 1849, William Sprague June 30, 1851, Henry Gilbert April 23, 1853, Andrew M. Fitch July 1, 1857, DeWitt C. Leach March 25, 1861, Richard M. Smith April 9, 1865, William H. Brockway April 8, 1869, Bvt. Maj. James W. Long June 14, 1869, Richard M. Smith April 18, 1871, George J. Betts October 31, 1871, and George Lee April 25, 1876

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 of the records of the Mackinac Agency are in the Great Lakes Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Chicago.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Mackinac Agency, 1828-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 402-415. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their.

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 Mackinac Agency, 1873-1888, are on roll 24 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 ).

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Mackinac Agency, 1910-1927, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Roll 81, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, beginning with their.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at the newer Mackinac Agency for 1902-1903, 1910, and 1915 thru 1927. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, roll 253. 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.