Osage Indian Agency (Oklahoma)

The Osage Agency continues to function. Its supervising office in the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the Muskogee Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Osage, Kansa (or Kaw), Quapaw,Seneca, and Shawnee

History
An agent was appointed in 1804 for the Indians of Upper Louisiana. In 1807, that agent was specifically appointed agent for the Great and Little Osage. From 1812-1821, subagents responsible to the Governor of Missouri Territory oversaw for the Osage. In 1821, an agent was made responsible for the Osage, Delaware and Kickapoo Indians and usually conducted business from St. Louis. In 1824, with the organization of the Office of Indian Affairs, an agent was assigned solely to the Osage Indians. In 1834, that agency was reduced to subagency status and was responsible for both the Osage and the Quapaw Indians.

In 1837, the Neosho Subagency was established with responsibilities for the Quapaw Indians. In 1851, the Osage Subagency and the Neosho Subagency were merged to form the Neosho Agency. In 1871, the Quapaw Agency was established, with responsibility for that tribe.

In 1874, the Neosho Agency was renamed the Osage Agency, and had responsibility for the Osage, the Kansa (or Kaw), and some Quapaw Indians who lived on the Osage Reservation. The agency headquarters was at Deep Ford on Bird Creek, at the site of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. In 1904, the Kansa (Kaw) Agency was formed, with responsibility for that tribe.

Subagents
Paul L. Chouteau 1834, Edwin James 1838, John Hill Edwards 1844, Joel Cruttenden 1844, Samuel H. Bunch 1846, John M. Richardson 1847, William H. Bell 1849, Henry Harvey 1849

Agents and Appointment Date
Alexander McNair 1824, John Francis Hamtramck 1826, Paul Chouteau 1830, Isaac T. Gibson 1869, Cyrus Beede 1876 and Laban J. Miles 1878

Maps
Osage Nation Indian Territory Map of 1905 (My Genealogy Hound)

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.

Some of the records of the Osage Agency are in the National Archives Southwest Region (Ft. Worth), including:


 * Health records, 1883-1940
 * Education records, 1886-1954
 * Allotment records, 1906-1909
 * Land transaction files, 1912-1967

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Osage Agency, 1824-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 631-641. 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, 1874-1899, are on rolls 33-34 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 ).

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Osage Agency, 1907-1938, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 95-97, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, beginning with their.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1887-1888, 1890-1907, and 1909 thru 1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 317-328. 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 subscription web site.

Records Available through the Family History Library

 * Birth and Death records 1924-1931. FHL film 579734 (This film is part of census films above)


 * Agency Records 1858-1952. FHL films (33): 1249781-1249784,