Prairie du Chien Indian Agency (Wisconsin)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Winnebago, Chippewa, Sioux, Menominee, and the Sac and Fox

History
The Prairie du Chien Agency was established in 1807 to serve the Indians in Louisiana living along the Mississippi River above the Iowa River; and the Indians living in Indiana Territory north of the Illinois River and west of a line running north and south from a point on the Illinois River about 20 miles north of Peoria. The agency headquarters was located at Prairie du Chien, north of the mouth of the Wisconsin River, on the east bank of the Mississippi River.

Other agencies were formed from the area covered by this early agency -- the St. Peters Agency, the Green Bay Agency, and the Sac and Fox Agency at Rock Island, Illinois. The Prairie du Chien Agency eventually became responsible primarily for the Winnebago Indians, although other tribes continued to have some contact with it.

Because this agency was in existence so early, its supervision was changed rather often as new territories and states came into existence. From its establishment, the agent received some conflicting instructions about to whom he was to report. At various times, he was told to take his instructions from the general Indian agent for Louisiana (Territory), and the Governors of Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as these territories were created, and the Missouri and St. Louis Superintendencies of the Office of Indian Affairs.

In 1837, Prairie du Chien was reduced to a subagency. This subagency was moved to Turkey River by the end of 1840 and the name "Prairie du Chien" was no longer used after 1842.

Agents and Appointment Dates
John Campbell 1807, Nicholas Boilvin1811, Joseph M. Street 1827, Col. Zachary Taylor (acting).

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 Prairie du Chien Agency, 1824-1842, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 696-701. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their ). Some correspondence for this agency will be found under a number of other headings -- St. Louis Superintendency, Michigan Superintendency, Wisconsin Superintendency, Iowa Superintendency, Sac and Fox Agency, Winnebago Agency, and perhaps others.