Osage Indian Agency (Kansas)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Osage, Kansa (or Kaw), and Quapaw

History
An agent was appointed in 1804 for the Indians of Upper Louisiana. In 1807, that agent was specifically appointed agent for the Great and Little Osage. From 1812-1821, subagents responsible to the Governor of Missouri Territory oversaw for the Osage. In 1821, an agent was made responsible for the Osage, Delaware and Kickapoo Indians and usually conducted business from St. Louis. In 1824, with the organization of the Office of Indian Affairs, an agent was assigned solely to the Osage Indians. In 1834, that agency was reduced to subagency status and was responsible for both the Osage and the Quapaw Indians. The location of the agency was on the Neosho River, on the Osage Reservation, in what is now southeastern Kansas.

In 1837, the Neosho Subagency was established with responsibilities for the Quapaw Indians. In 1851, the Osage Subagency and the Neosho Subagency were merged to form the Neosho Agency. In 1871, the Quapaw Agency was established, with responsibility for that tribe.

In 1874, the Neosho Agency was renamed the Osage Agency, and had responsibility for the Osage, the Kansa (or Kaw), and some Quapaw Indians who lived on the Osage Reservation. The agency headquarters was at Deep Ford on Bird Creek, at the site of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. In 1904, the Kansa (Kaw) Agency was formed, with responsibiliy for that tribe.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Alexander McNair 1824, John Francis Hamtramck 1826, Paul L. Chouteau 1830,

Subagents
Paul L. Chouteau 1834, Edwin James 1838, Congrave Jackson 1839, Robert Callaway 1840, John Hill Edwards 1844, Joel Cruttenden 1844, Samuel H. Bunch 1847, John M. Richardson 1847, William H. Bell 1849, and Henry Harvey 1849

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 Agency, 1824-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 631-641. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their.

For other records of the later years of the Osage Agency, located in Indian Territory (later Oklahoma), see Osage Agency (Oklahoma)