Fort Hall Indian Agency (Idaho)

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

The Fort Hall Agency is a currently operating agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Its supervising office is the Portland Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Shoshone and Bannock

History
A special agent was assigned to the Boise and Bruneau bands of Shoshoni Indians in 1867. In 1869 some Western Shoshoni and Bannock Indians were moved to Fort Hall Reservation and in 1872 the Bannock Indians previously assigned to the Shoshone and Bannock Agency in Wyoming were also moved to Fort Hall. The Lemhi Agency became part of the Fort Hall Agency in 1879 and 1880, and again after 1907.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Charles F. Powell (special) April 18, 1867,Lt. William H. Danilson (special) June 11, 1869, Johnson N. High (special) November 8, 1870, Montgomery P. Berry (special) March 25, 1871, Johnson N. High (special) December 21, 1871, Henry W. Reed November 15, 1872, James Wright October 4, 1874, William H. Danilson May 21, 1875, John A. Wright (acting) September 3, 1879, James M. Haworth October 9, 1879, and John A. Wright January 19, 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.

A few of the records of the Fort Hall Agency, 1909-1963, have been transferred to the Pacific Alaska Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Seattle. These records are primarily administrative files regarding financial matters, but there are a few student case files for 1952-1970.

Additional student records, 1946-1952 have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their ). Included with these records are also birth and death registers, 1901-1907 and individual money ledgers, 1911-1927.

Letters received from the Fort Hall Agency, 1869-1870, are included among Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Idaho Superintendency, filmed by the National Archives as their Microcopy M832, Roll 2. This set of records is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their microfilm number ).

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 Fort Hall Agency, 1880-1900, are on rolls 13-14 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 Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Fort Hall Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 144 in Bingham County, Idaho.

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Fort Hall Agency, 1907-1937, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 48-50, 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 1885-1887, 1890-1891, and from 1894 thru 1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 138 thru 144. 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
1894 Census of Bannock and Shoshone Indians of Fort Hall. FHL Film: 928110 item 5

School Records including vital, and individual money ledgers,various years 1901-1952. FHL Film: 1030802


 * Fort Hall Agency, Vital records supplements to the Indian Census Rolls births and deaths 1927-1932, FHL Film: 576497 and births and deaths 1924-1934, FHL Film: 576498 and births deaths and marriages 1935-39 FHL Film: 576499