Grand River Indian Agency (North Dakota)

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

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Various bands of the Sioux.

History
The Grand River Agency was established in 1869, reporting to the Dakota Superintendency and associated with the Upper Platte Agency. After 1870, the agent reported directly to the Office of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC. The Grand River Agency was primarily responsible for the Upper and Lower Yanktonai, Hunkpapa, Cut Head (Pabaska), and Blackfeet Sioux. Other bands of the Sioux, including the Two Kettle (Oohenonpa), Sans Arcs, Oglala, and Brulé, also were associated with this agency. In July 1873, the agency was moved from the junction of the Grand and Missouri Rivers in South Dakota to its present location 50 miles up-stream on the Missouri River at Standing Rock, North Dakota. The name of the agency was officially changed to Standing Rock Agency in December 1874.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Bvt. Maj. J. A. Hearn (special) June 14, 1869, William F. Cady (Special) September 30, 1870, J. C. O'Connor (special) February 14, 1871, J. C. O'Connor (agent) July 23, 1872, and Edmond Palmer May 19, 1873

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 Grand River Agency, 1871-1875, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 305-306. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History 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 reports for Grand River Agency, 1873-1874, are on roll 17 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 ).