Reports of Inspection of the Field Jurisdictions of the Office of Indian Affairs, 1873-1900

Under an act of the United States Congress of 14 February 1873 (17 Stat. 463), inspectors for the Indian Service were appointed to visit and report on the condition of the Indians in field jurisdictions of the Office of Indian Affairs. These reports were collected into two sets of records, one (1872-1880) under the Office of Indian Affairs, and the other (1881-1900) under the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. The two sets of reports were consolidated by the National Archives and microfilmed on 60 rolls as their Microcopy M1070.

The inspectors examined and reported on reservation boundaries, how well the field jurisdiction was run, school conditions, and several other things. In the 1890s, many reports included the names and titles of employees at the agency, their residence, age, sex, rate of compensation, nature and extent of services performed, and comments on their character and qualifications.