Wind River Indian Agency (Wyoming)

Wind River Indian Agency is the administrative office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Its supervising office is the Billings Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Shoshone, Arapaho Indians

History
The Wind River Agency was originally called the Shoshone and Bannock Agency from its establishment in 1870 until 1883, when it became the Shoshone Agency. It was the successor to the Fort Bridger Agency.

Most of the Bannock moved to the Fort Hall Reservation in 1872. In 1878 some Northern Arapaho moved onto the Wind River Reservation. In 1937, the name was changed to the Wind River Agency. The agency serviced the Shoshone and Bannock Indians living on a reservation in the Wind River area of Wyoming from 1870-1872. Most of the Bannock Indians moved to Fort Hall in 1872 and some Northern Arapaho moved onto the reservation in 1878.

Stamm,Henry E. People of the Wind River: the Eastern Shoshones 1825-1900. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press C. 1999 FS Library book

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Many of the historical records of this agency and its predecessors are housed in the National Archives Rocky Mountain Region (Denver), Colorado. Records in that collection which may be of assistance to the genealogist include:


 * Land allotment records, 1896-1946
 * Census records, 1894-1907, 1931-1958
 * Record of employees at the Shoshone Agency, 1907-1922


 * Wind River Agency. Agency Records, 1889-1953. FS Library first of 6 films:

Many more records of lesser genealogical value are also in this collection.

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Shoshone Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Shoshone Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 73, Shoshone Agency], in Fremont County, Wyoming.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1938-1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, roll 663. Copies of these records are also available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch Library and its family history centers (their ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription website.

An additional census roll for years 1934,1952 purchased by the Genealogical Society of Utah from the Federal record Center Seattle, Washington (microfilm number 295703 Item 2)

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Wind River Agency, 1938 only, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 169, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City (their.

Records Available through the FamilySearch Library

 * Wind River Agency. Agency Records, 1889-1953. FS Library first of 6 films:


 * Census Records, 1934, 1952 item 2
 * Vital Records with Census FS Library film: 583122