Red Cloud Indian Agency (South Dakota)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Oglala Sioux, some Cheyenne and Arapaho and other bands of Sioux.

History
The Red Cloud Agency was established in 1871 and was located on the North Platte River near Fort Laramie in Wyoming. In 1873, the agency was moved to the White River near Camp Robinson in northwestern Nebraska. In 1877, it was moved to the mouth of Medicine Creek on the Missouri River in present-day South Dakota. From that point on, it has been known as the Pine Ridge Agency.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Joseph W. Wham 1871, Jared W. Daniels 1871, Jared W. Daniels 1872, John J. Saville 1873, James S. Hastings 1875, Lt. O. Eltinge 1870, Capt. Frank G. Smith 1876, Capt. Thomas F. Tobey 1876,Lt. C. A Johnson 1877, James Irwin 1877

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, 1871-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 715-726. 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 Osage Agency, 1874-1879, are on roll 42 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 ).