Blackfeet Indian Agency (Montana)

The Blackfeet Indian Agency, located in Browning, Montana is the administrative office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Blackfeet Reservation. Its current supervising field office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the Billings Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency


During Indian Census years:


 * Blood (Kainah), Blackfeet (Siksika), and Piegan -- 1890-1896
 * Blackfeet and Piegan -- 1897-1906
 * Blackfeet (Siksika), Blood (Kainah), Piegan, and Rocky Boy's Band of Chippewa -- 1907-1913
 * Blackfeet (Siksika) -- 1914-1938

History
The Blackfeet Agency was established in 1855 at Fort Benton, Montana. At its creation, it was under the Central Superintendency. It had jurisdiction over Blackfeet (Siksika), Piegan, Blood (Kainah), and Grosventre Indians.


 * 1861 Claimed by both the Central and the new Dakota Superintendency
 * 1862 Assigned to Dakota Superintendency
 * 1863 Assigned to the new Idaho Superintendency
 * 1864 Assigned to the new Montana Superintendency

In 1869, a new Blackfeet Agency was built on the Teton River about 35 miles from Fort Shaw, Montana. In 1870, the Milk River (later Fort Peck) Agency was created for the Grosventre Indians. In 1876 the Agency was moved to Badger Creek and in 1879 to another location on Badger Creek.

It has continued to function to the present, with headquarters at Browning, Montana.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Edwin A. C. Hatch March 3, 1855, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Jefferson_Vaughan,_Jr. Alfred J. Vaughn] May 1857, Luther Pease April 22, 1861, Henry W. Reed April 4, 1862, Gad E. Upson October 13, 1863, George B. Wright April 10, 1866, Nathaniel Pope (acting) August 25, 1868, Lt. William B. Pease June 11, 1869, M. M. McCauley September 9, 1870, Jesse Armitage February 25, 1871, William F. Ensign July 23, 1872, Richard F. May November 6, 1873, John S. Wood October 24, 1874, John Young October 20, 1876

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 these offices.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Blackfeet Agency, 1855-1869, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their ).

Many of the historical records of this agency are housed in the Rocky Mountain Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Denver, Colorado. Records in that collection which may be of assistance to the genealogist include:


 * Vital records, including list of Indian lodges, ca. 1877-78 (FHL Film: 1275620)
 * Census records, 1895-1908 (FHL Film: 1275621)
 * Marriage records, 1894-1915 (FHL Film: 1275621)
 * "Registers of Indians by Families," 1901-04 (FHL Film: 1275623)
 * Records of births and deaths, 1902-17 (FHL Film: 1275622)
 * Land claims 1879-1892(FHL Film: 1275623)
 * Heirship 1907-1952 (FHL Films: 1028548 and 1028549)
 * Family histories, 1908
 * Census rolls and related records, 1891-1947 (FHL Film: 1028550)
 * Supplementary census rolls, 1923-42
 * Census record cards, 1925- 51.
 * Other Agency records in this collection: (FHL Films 1028551-554)

Many other historical records are also included in the agency records.

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 Blackfeet Agency, 1882-1899 are on rolls 2-3 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 ).

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Blackfeet Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Blackfeet Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 212, Blackfeet Agency, in Teton County, Montana.

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Blackfeet Agency, 1907-1935, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 5-6, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, beginning with their. Reports for some years are missing.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1885-1887, 1890-1891, and from 1894 thru 1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 3 thru 11. 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.