Lemhi Indian Agency (Idaho)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Bannock, Shoshoni, and Tukuarika (Sheepeater)

History
Lemhi Agency was established in 1873 for the Bannock, Shoshoni and Tukuarika (or Sheepeater) Indians in eastern Idaho. From Jan. 1879 to Feb. 1880, it was consolidated with the Fort Hall Agency. The Indians under the Lemhi Agency were moved to the Fort Hall Reservation and the Lemhi Agency was closed in 1907.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Harrison Fuller November 13, 1873, Charles N. Stowers July 12, 1877, John A. Wright June 14, 1878 starting January 1, 1879, was farmer-in-charge, and Elijah A. Stone February 5, 1880

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.

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 Nez Perce Agency, 1883-1900, are on roll 24 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 ).

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1885 and from 1887 thru 1906. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, roll 248. 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.

Idaho State University in Pocatello has a collection of the Lemhi Agency records, Manuscript Collection 011, 1887-1907. It consists correspondence, tribal census, medical reports, and other agency administrative records.

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Lemhi Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Lemhi Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 145, Lemhi Indian Reservation, in Lemhi County, Idaho.