Colorado River Indian Agency (Arizona)

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

The Colorado River Agency is the administrative office for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Colorado River Reservation near Parker, Arizona. Its current supervising field office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the Phoenix Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Yavapai, Walapai, Havasupai, Yuma, Mojave, Cocopah, Chemehuevi, Hualapai, Mohave-Apache

History
The Colorado River Agency was established in 1864 for Indian living in the Colorado River area, mostly those in Arizona, but also for some living in California and Nevada.

Agents and Appointment Dates
John C. Dunn (special), July 1, 1864, John Feudge, (Special) November 7, 1865, Lt. J. W. Keller, (Special) July 8, 1869, Lt. Helenus Dodt, (Special) July 28, 1869, John A. Tonner (special), March 10, 1871 and as agent July 23, 1872, E. S. Hammond, March 26, 1873, John A. Tonner July 15, 1873, William E. Morford September 27, 1875, John C. Mallory, Jr. July 12, 1877, Henry R. Mallory August 1, 1878, Jonathan Biggs May 27, 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.

Some of the records of the Colorado River Agency are in the Pacific Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Los Angeles. Among those records are:


 * Census rolls, 1901-1941
 * Probate case files, 1916-1972
 * Applications for enrollment at non-reservation Indian schools, 1965-1967
 * Chemehuevi tribal membership applications, 1970-1971
 * Cocopah tribal membership applications, 1971-1972
 * Student case files, 1972
 * Records for the Fort Mojave Subagency and School
 * Records of the Colorado River School, Poston II School, and Valley School.

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 Colorado River Agency, 1883-1898, are on roll 6 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 1885-1893 and from 1895 thru 1940. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 46 thru 48. 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 microfilm numbers ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Colorado River Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Colorado River Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 81, Colorado River Indian Reservation, in Yuma County, Arizona.

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Colorado River Agency, 1907-1937, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, rolls 23-24, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (their ).