Winnebago Indian Agency (Wisconsin)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Winnebago, Sioux, Chippewa, Omaha, Ponca

History
The Agency for the Winnebago Indians was originally called the Prairie du Chien Agency.

A special agent was appointed in 1864 for the Winnebago and Potawatomi Indians who had gone to Wisconsin to avoid moving to the Crow Creek Reservation in Dakota Territory. This special agency was located at Plover in Portage County until 1869 and then moved to Necedah and then to New Lisbon, in Juneau County. It was abolished in 1870. Most of the Winnebago Indians settled at the Winnebago Reservation in eastern Nebraska, where the Winnebago Agency had moved in 1865.

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.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1904 thru 1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 461-470. 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.

Vital Records part of Indian Census Rolls above


 * Birth and Death records 1924-1931 FHL film 583126
 * Birth and Death records 1925-1932 FHL film 583127

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the several Winnebago Agencies, 1826-1875, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 931-947. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their.