Superintendencies of Indian Affairs

Superintendents of Indian Affairs for a specific locality existed from approximately 1803 until 1878, when the last Superintendency was abolished. After 1878, agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported directly to the Commissioner's Office in Washington, DC.

A Superintendent of Indian Affairs was an administrator, communicating and overseeing the agents who worked directly with individual tribes. It was the responsibility of the superintendent to see that the agents were following official government policy. Records for Superintendencies exist in the National Archives and copies of many of them are also available in other research facilities.

= The Superintendencies =

History
The records of the Dakota Superintendency relate to almost all aspects of Indian administration including negotiation and enforcement of treaties, Indian delegations, annuity and other payments, intrusions on Indian lands, hostilities and depredations, enforcement of federal laws and regulations, traders and licenses, contracts, claims, location of agencies, construction and repair of buildings, purchase and transportation of goods and supplies, furnishing food and other subsistence to Indians, Indian education and farming, medical supplies and health, agency accounts and employees, general conditions among the Indian tribes, locations of Indian bands, hunting, and intertribal relations.

The Dakota Superintendency was created in 1861. Since 1851 the Indians in the Dakota Territory area had been under the Central Superintendency, which had received responsibility for Indians in Dakota from the St. Louis Superintendency. The Indians in Dakota most mentioned in this correspondence are the Brulé, Yankton, Miniconjou, Sans Arc, Two Kettle, Blackfeet, Hunkpapa, Yanktonai, Yankton, Cut Head, Mandan, Ponca, Crow, Blood, Piegan, and Grosventre. Localities are South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming.

Agencies at the time of the establishment of the Superintendency in 1861 and tribes for which they were responsible were the:


 * Blackfeet Agency, Fort Benton, Montana -- for the Blackfeet, Piegan, Blood, and Grosventre Indians
 * Ponca Agency in Nebraska -- for the Ponca Indians
 * Upper Missouri Agency -- for Sioux and other Indians including the Mandan, Arikara, Assiniboin, and Grosventre in the Upper Missouri Area
 * Yankton Agency in South Dakota for the Yankton Indians

Between 1861 and 1870, the following Agencies were added to the Dakota Superintendency:


 * Fort Berthold Agency became responsible for the Mandan, Arikara, Assiniboin, and Crow Indians who lived on the Upper Missouri
 * Grand River Agency served the Yanktonai, Cut Head, Hunkpapa and Blackfeet Sioux
 * Cheyenne River Agency received the Sans Arc, Two Kettle, Miniconjou, and some of the Blackfeet Sioux
 * Crow Creek Agency was responsible for the Yanktonai and Brulé
 * Whetstone Agency had the responsibility for Chief Spotted Tail's Brulé.

The Superintendency was revived in April, 1877. It took charge of the Standing Rock (formerly Grand River), Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Lower Brulé, Yankton, Red Cloud, and Spotted Tail (formerly Whetstone) Agencies.

The Superintendency was abolished in June, 1878.

Records
Records of the Dakota Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1860-1878, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M1016. Copies are also available at the Denver Regional Archives and at the University of Arizona. This same set of microfilm of the records of the Dakota Superintendency are also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Dakota Superintendency, 1851-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1660980 thru 1661003.

Florida Superintendency
Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Florida Superintendency, 1824-1853, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661016 thru 1661019.

History
The records of the Idaho Superintendency concern the Nez Percé and Fort Hall Agencies and the Shoshoni, Bannock and Nez Percé Indians.

Records
Records of the Idaho Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1863-1870, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M832. Copies are also available at the Seattle Regional Archives. This same set of microfilm of the records of the Idaho Superintendency are also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Idaho Superintendency, 1863-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661067 thru 1661083.

Iowa Superintendency
Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Iowa Superintendency, 1838-1849, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll number 1661093.

History
The records of the Michigan Superintendency includes correspondence mainly to and from the Detroit District, the Chicago Agency, Mackinac Agency, Sault Ste. Marie Agency and Fort Wayne Agency but also from the St. Peters Agency, the Picqua Agency, La Pointe Agency, Saganaw Subagency, and Green Bay Agency, concerning Wyandot, Delaware, Shawnee, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Miami, Kickapoo, Winnebago, Sauk, Piankeshaw, Kaskaskia, Oneida, Milwaukie, Sandusky, Wea, Seneca, Mohawk, Fox, and Menominee Indians. The letters include annuities paid to Indians, gifts to them, military affairs, rations, accounts, schools, missions, treaties, law and order, blacksmiths, and licenses to trade with the Indians.

Records
Records of the Michigan Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1814-1882, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M1. Copies are also available at the Chicago and San Francisco Regional Archives. This same set of microfilm of the records of the Michigan Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Michigan Superintendency, 1824-1851, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661149 thru 1661157.

History
The records of the Minnesota Superintendency of Indian Affairs relate to almost all aspects of Indian Administration within its jurisdiction. There are documents relating to negotiation and enforcement of treaties, land matters, Indian emigration and subsistence, intrusions on Indian lands, law and order, annuity and other payments, intertribal hostilities, military operations, depredation claims, traders and licenses, missionaries and schools, location of agencies, construction and repair of buildings, purchase and transportation of goods and supplies, employees and accounts.

The St. Peters Agency was responsible for four main bands of Sioux, or Dakota, Indians. These were the Sioux of the Mississippi-- Sisseton, Wahpeton, Mdewakanton, and Wahpekute.

Records
Records of the Minnesota Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1849-1856, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M842. Copies are also available at the Chicago Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration. This set of microfilm of the records of the Minnesota Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Minnesota Superintendency, 1849-1856, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll number 1661158.

History
The records of the Montana Superintendency relate to most aspects of Indian affairs in its area, including negotiation and enforcement of treaties, Indian migration and subsistence, removal of Indians, annuity and other payments to Indians, location of agencies, traders and licenses, suppression of liquor traffic, hostilities and military operations, depredation claims, construction and repair of buildings, purchase and trasnportation of goods and supplies, employees, and accounts.

Agencies in the correspondence and tribes served by them were the Blackfeet Agency for Blackfoot, Piegan, Blood (Kainah), and Grosventre Indians; Flathead Agency for the Flathead, Upper Pend d'Oreilles, and Kutenai Indians; Crow Agency for Crow Indians; Milk River Agency for Grosventre and Assiniboin Indians but aiding to some extent Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, Shoshoni, Santee, Yankton, Yanktonai and Teton Indians; Lemhi Agency for Bannock, Shoshoni, and Tukuarika Indians.

Records
Records of the Montana Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1867-1873, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M833. Copies are also available at the Denver and Seattle Regional Archives. This set of microfilm of the records of the Montana Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Montana Superintendency, 1864-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661218 thru 1661248.

History
The principal tribes living in Nevada were the Paiute, Washo, and Shoshoni. The agencies were the Nevada Agency serving Paiute and Washo Indians and the South East Nevada Agency or Pi-Ute Agency serving Paiute Indians. The Walker River and Pyramid Lake Reservations also came under the jurisdiction of the Nevada Agency.

The responsibility of the Superintendency included such matters as enforcement of treaties, annuities and other payments to Indians, farming, improvements, depredations, construction of buildings, purchase and transportation of supplies, conduct of employees, and accounts.

Records
Records of the Nevada Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1869-1870, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M837. Copies are also available at the San Francisco Regional Archives. This set of microfilm of the records of the Nevada Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Nevada Superintendency, 1861-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661268 thru 1661275.

History
The New Mexico Superintendency had responsibility concerning Jicarilla, Ute, and Navajo Indians and the Abiquiu Agency, the Cimarron Agency, the Southern Apache Agency, the Navajo Agency. A small amount of correspondence from the Santa Fe Agency, the Utah Agency and brief mention of other tribes such as the Comanche Indians is included in their records.

Records
Records of the New Mexico Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1849-1880, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number T21. Copies are also available at the Denver Regional Archives and the University of Arizona. This set of microfilm of the records of the New Mexico Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the New Mexico Superintendency, 1849-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661276 thru 1661312.

History
The Northern Superintendency was established in 1851 as a part of the general reorganization of the field service under an act of February 27, 1851. It superseded the Michigan Superintendency, which was abolished in 1851, and assumed some responsibilities of the former Wisconsin Superintendency, which had been discontinued in 1848. From the Michigan Superintendency it inherited the Mackinac Agency, which with the assistance of the Sault Ste. Marie Subagency, was in charge of the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes living in Michigan. From the Wisconsin Superintendency it inherited the Green Bay Subagency, which had jurisdiction over the Menominee, Oneida, and Stockbridge tribes living in Wisconsin and had reported directly to the Office of Indian Affairs following the termination of the Wisconsin Superintendency. The Northern Superintendency also assumed responsibility for some Potawatomi and other Indians in Wisconsin who had not previously been assigned to an agency.

Records
Records of the Northern Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1851-1876, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M1166. This set of microfilm of the records of the Northern Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Northern Superintendency, 1851-1876, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661328 thru 1661330.

History
Some of the tribes the Oregon Superintendency served were the Umatilla Indians, Klamath Indians, Klikitat Indians, Cayuse Indians, Walla Walla Indians, Nez Percé Indians, Yakima Indians, Modoc Indians, Shoshoni Indians, Umpqua Indians, Rogue River Indians (Tututni Indians), Clackamas Indians, Spokan Indians, and Skagit Indians. Some of the principal agencies serving Oregon tribes were the Alsea Agency, Grand Ronde Agency, Siletz Agency, Umatilla Agency, Nez Percé Agency, Cayuse Agency, Walla Walla Agency, and Umpqua Agency.

The records of the Superintendency concern liquor and Indians, payments and presents to Indians, listings of the various tribes and information about them, agents and their work with the Indians, and other matters involving treatment of Indians and attempts to keep peaceful relationships between them and whites.

Records
Records of the Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1848-1873, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M2. Copies are also available at the Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle Regional Archives. This set of microfilm of the records of the Oregon Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Oregon Superintendency, 1842-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661337 thru 1661360.

History
The Southern Superintendency includes records of the Western Superintendency of Indian Affairs which operated from 1832-1851. Its responsibility included the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Osage, Seneca, Seminole, Shawnee, and Quapaw Indians. It also included the Wichita, Comanche, Cherokee, and Creek Agencies and the Arkansas Superintendency. The Wichita Agency had responsibility for Wichita, Caddo, Anadarko, Waco, Tonkawa, Hanai, Kichai, Tawakoni, Delaware, Shawnee, and some of the Comanche Indians. The localities included are Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Records
Records of the Southern Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1853-1870, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M640. This set of microfilm of the records of the Southern Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Southern Superintendency, 1851-1871, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661563 thru 1661569.

St. Louis Superintendency
This was the forerunner to the Central Superintendency and operated from 1813 to 1850. Records are included in the records of the Central Superintendency (see above). Copies are also available on microfilm at the University of Arizona.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the St. Louis Superintendency, 1824-1851, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661477 thru 1661486.

Utah Superintendency
Records of the Utah Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1853-1874, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M834. Copies are also available at the Denver and San Francisco Regional Archives. This set of microfilm of the records of the Utah Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Utah Superintendency, 1849-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661627 thru 1661636.

Washington Superintendency
Records of the Washington Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1853-1874, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M5. Copies are also available at the Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle Regional Archives. This set of microfilm of the records of the Washington Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Washington Superintendency, 1853-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661637 thru 1661650.

History
The Western Superintendency of Indian Affairs operated from 1832-1851. Its responsibility included the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Osage, Seneca, Seminole, Shawnee, and Quapaw Indians. It also included the Wichita, Comanche, Cherokee, and Creek Agencies and the Arkansas Superintendency. The Wichita Agency had responsibility for Wichita, Caddo, Anadarko, Waco, Tonkawa, Hanai, Kichai, Tawakoni, Delaware, Shawnee, and some of the Comanche Indians. The localities included are Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

When the Southern Superintendency was created in 1851, it took over the responsibilities of the Western Superintendency.

Records
Records of the Western Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1832-1851 are included in the records of the Southern Superintendent at the National Archives. They have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M640. This set of microfilm of the records of the Southern Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Western Superintendency, 1832-1851, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661651 thru 1661654.

History
The Wisconsin Superintendency had responsibility for Chippewa Indians, Menominee Indians, Sauk Indians, Fox Indians, Winnebago Indians and Sioux Indians (Sisseton, Wahpeton, Mdewakanton, and Wahpekute Bands) as well as for Brotherton, Munsee, Oneida, and Stockbridge Indians. Agencies were Priarie du Chien serving Winnebago, Sioux, and Sauk and Fox; St. Peters serving the Sioux; Green Bay Agency and Subagency serving the Menominee, Brotherton, Munsee, Oneida, and Stockbridge; Sioux Subagency; Ioway Subagency, serving Iowa Indians; Fort Winnebago Subagency serving Winnebago; Crow Wing Subagency serving Chippewa; La Pointe Agency serving another group of Chippewa.

Records
Records of the Wisconsin Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1836-1848, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as their Microcopy Number M951. Copies are also available at the Chicago Regional Archives. This set of microfilm of the records of the Wisconsin Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Wisconsin Superintendency, 1836-1848, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661678 thru 1661679.

History
The Wyoming Superintendency functioned from April, 1869, until November, 1870. It had one agency, the Shoshone and Bannock Agency for Shoshoni and Bannock Indians.

Records
Records of the Wyoming Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1870, are at the National Archives and have been microfilmed as part of their Microcopy Number M1016. Copies are also available at the Denver Regional Archives. This same roll of microfilm of the records of the Wyoming Superintendency is also available at the Family History Library and its family history centers.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Wyoming Superintendency, 1851-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their microfilm roll numbers 1661683 thru 1661688.

= References =

Hill, Edward E. The Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880: Historical Sketches. New York, New York: Clearwater Press, [1974].

Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington [District of Columbia]: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981.

Historical Sketches for Jurisdictional and Subject Headings Used for the Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880. National Archives Microcopy T1105.

Preliminary Inventory No. 163: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington, DC: