Fort Belknap Indian Agency (Montana)

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

The Fort Belknap Indian Agency is the administrative office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Fort Belknap Reservation in north-central Montana. Its supervising office is the Billings Area Office.

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Grosventre, Assiniboin

History
The Fort Belknap Agency was established in 1873. The Grosventre and Assiniboin Indians living on the Milk River in Montana were assigned to the agency. For two years, 1876-1878, the Fort Belknap and the Fort Peck Agency were joined. In 1878, Fort Belknap was reestablished as a separate agency.

Agents and Appointment Dates
William H. Fanton. August 12, 1873, Wyamn L. Lincoln April 11, 1878

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.

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


 * Birth and death certificates and reports, 1915-1919
 * Family history cards, 1909
 * U.S. Army discharges of Indian scouts, 1883-1894
 * Student case files, 1935-1950

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

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 Fort Belknap Agency, 1883-1900, are on roll 12 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 ).

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Fort Belknap Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Fort Belknap Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 211, Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, in Chouteau County, Montana.

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Fort Belknap Agency, 1907-1935, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 45-46, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, beginning with their. Reports for some years are missing.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1885-1911 and from 1913 thru 1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 126 thru 131. 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 ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.

Records Available through the Family History Library
Census Records 1888, 1900-1944 and Family History Cards 1909, FHL film: 1026838

Indians serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps., 1938-1942. FHL film: 1026854

Employee Records 1878-1927. FHL film: 126851

Heirship Records, 1911, 1921-1936. FHL film: 1026844

Individual Money Ledgers 1925-1948. FHL film: 1026845-1026850

Ration Records 1904, 1931-32, 1937-38 and Welfare Application 1939-1947. FHL film: 1026852 items 1 and 2

Individual Allotment Records, Army discharge 1883-1894, Draft Registration Cards 1917-1918. FHL film: 1026855

School Records 1879-1951. FHL film: 1026839-1026843

Vital Records 1913-1918. FHL film: 1026853