Cherokee Indian Agency (Arkansas)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Cherokee, Quapaw

History
The Cherokee Agency in the west was established in 1813. Some Cherokee were then living between the Arkansas and White Rivers in what became Arkansas. The agent for the western Cherokee Agency was subordinate to the one in the east until 1817, but was made a full agent in 1818. This agency was at times known as the Arkansas Agency and was also responsible for the Quapaw Indians in Arkansas.

By treaty of 6 May 1828, the Cherokee living in Arkansas agreed to move to Indian Territory and in 1830 the agency headquarters was established at Fort Gibson [see Cherokee Agency (Oklahoma)].

Records
Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Cherokee Agency, 1824-1836, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 77-79. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their microfilm roll numbers 1660807-1660809). Correspondence from this agency was filed by the Office of Indian Affairs under the heading "Cherokee [West]." That heading was used until 1837, when the Cherokee Agency in Indian Territory (later Oklahoma) was made a full agency.

A few administrative records for the Cherokee Agency (West), located in Arkansas, are in the National Archives in Washington, DC and have been inventoried by them. .