Cheyenne River Indian Agency (South Dakota)

The Cheyenne River Agency, located in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, is the administrative office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. Its current supervising field office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the Aberdeen Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency

 * Miniconjou, Sans Arcs, Two Kettle (Oohenonpa) and Blackfeet Bands of the Sioux

History
The Cheyenne River Agency was established in 1869, located just below the mouth of the Big Cheyenne River, on the west bank of the Missouri River about 6 miles from Fort Sully, South Dakota. Its primary responsibility is for the Sans Arc Band of Sioux Indians. It was known as the Forest City Agency from 1892-1894. It was placed under the Aberdeen Area Office in 1949.

Records
Many of the records of the Cheyenne River Agency have been transferred to the Central Plains Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Kansas City. Some of the records in this collection, identified by NARA inventories, which may be of interest to family historians, are:


 * Records of Indian policemen, 1878-1893
 * Censuses and family registers, 1879-1937
 * Vital statistics, 1886-1951
 * Annuity rolls, 1894-1919
 * Heirship records, 1904-1941
 * Allotment records, 1886-1910
 * School records, 1917-1926
 * Family surveys, 1921-1922

Most of these records have been microfilmed and are available through the Family History Library and its system of family history centers.

Letters received from the Cheyenne River Agency, 1871-1880, are included among Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, filmed by the National Archives as their Microcopy M248, Rolls 127-141. This set of records is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their microfilm roll numbers 1660857 thru 1660861). Correspondence from Cheyenne River Agency for 1869 and 1870 is filed with the Upper Platte Agency.

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 Cheyenne River Agency, 1874-1900, are on roll 5 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 roll number 1617678).

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Cheyenne River Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Cheyenne River Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 48, Cheyenne River Agency, in Dewey County, South Dakota and in District 48, Cheyenne River Agency, in Sterling County, South Dakota.

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Cheyenne River Agency, 1907-1935, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 16-17, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (their microfilm roll numbers 1724234-1724235). Reports for some years are missing.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1886-1887, 1890-1892, 1894-1907, and 1909-1942. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 33 thru 40. 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 microfilm roll numbers 574192-574199). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.

Cheyenne River Agency Records 1886-1951.: Census, Vital, Heirship, Guardianship, Allottees, Land Annuity and more. FHL Film: 1205156-1205160 and 10223372-1023380