Shoshone Indian Agency (Wyoming)

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Shoshone, Arapaho, Cheyenne

History
The Shoshone Agency was originally called the Shoshone and Bannock Agency from its establishment in 1870 until 1883, when it became the Shoshone Agency. In 1937, the name was changed to the Wind River Agency.

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

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 as part of the collection of Wind River Agency records. Records in that collection which may be of assistance to the genealogist include:


 * Land allotment records, 1896-1946
 * Census records, 1894-1907, 1931-1958
 * Record of employees at the Shoshone Agency, 1907-1922

Many more records of lesser genealogical value are also in this collection.

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 Shoshone Agency, 1882-1900, are on rolls 48-49 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 Shoshone Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Shoshone Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 73, Shoshone Agency], in Fremont County, Wyoming.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1885, 1890-1893, and 1895-1937. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 498-504. 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.

Records Available through the Family History Library
Vital records


 * birth and death 1924-1937 included on census films (microfilm numbers 581879 and 583122)


 * Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Shoshone Agency, 1907-1935, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 137-138, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (their.