Whetstone Indian Agency (South Dakota)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Sioux Bands: Primarily Brulé Sioux under Spotted Tail, but also other bands of Brulé, Oglala, and Miniconjou Sioux.

History
The Whetstone Agency succeeded the Upper Platte Agency in1869, when it was moved from its Platte River location to the mouth of Whetstone Creek on the Missouri in Dakota Territory. Whetstone Agency was primarily responsible for the band of Brulé Sioux under Spotted Tail, but it was also responsible for other bands of Brulé, Oglala, and Miniconjou Sioux who lived near the agency. It was moved in 1871 and again in 1875, first to Big White Clay Creek and then to a site on the White River near the border between Dakota Territory and Nebraska. The name was changed in 1874 to the Spotted Tail Agency.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Capt. DeWitt C. Poole1869, John M. Washburn 1870, D. R. Risley 1871, Edwin A. Howard 1873.

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 Whetstone Agency, 1871-1874, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 925-927. 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 Whetstone Agency, 1873-1874, are on roll 57 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 ).