Cherokee Indian Agency (Oklahoma)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Cherokee, Delaware, Shawnee.

History
The Cherokee Agency in the west was established in 1813 and was located in Arkansas until 1830. At that time, the Cherokee Agency in Arkansas moved to Fort Gibson in Indian Territory. For a short time (1834-1837), it became a subagency and was made responsible for the Seneca and the Mixed Band of Seneca and Shawnee. It was again made a full agency in 1837.

This agency was also made responsible for the Cherokee from east of the Mississippi who were removed to the west, mostly in 1838. In 1851, the agency headquarters was moved from Fort Gibson to a location near Tahlequah. This agency was forced to leave Tahlequah during the Civil War, during which time the agency buildings there were destroyed. After the war, the agent remained at Fort Gibson until the agency was rebuilt and re-established at Tahlequah.

In 1874, the Creek Agency, the Choctaw Agency, and the Seminole Agency were consolidated with the Cherokee Agency, and, later that year, the new agency as named the Union Agency.

Maps
Cherokee 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.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Cherokee Agency, 1836-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 80-118. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the FamilySearch Library and its family history centers (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 report for Cherokee Agency, 1876 only, is on roll 3 of that Microcopy set. Copies are available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch Library and its family history centers (their ).

Agency Records 1800-1835.FS Library films: 1024418-1024431

Agents
William L. Lovely 1813, Reuben Lewis1818, David Brearly 1820, Edward Du Val1823, George Vashon 1830, Montford Stokes 1836, Pierce M. Butler 1841, James McKisick 1845, Richard C. S. Brown 1848, William Butler, 1849, George Butler 1850, Robert J. Cowart 1860, John Crawford 1861, Charles W. Chatterton 1862, Justin Harlan 1862, John J. Humphreys 1866, William B. Davis 1867, Capt. John N. Craig 1869, and John B. Jones 1870