California Indian Agency (California)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Cahuilla

History
The California Agency was officially established in 1947 with a statewide jurisdiction, except for reservations along the Colorado River. However, records have been filed under the California Agency name for as early as 1907 (see below). It may be that the records listed apply to the Sacramento Agency. In 1950, the California Agency was replaced by the Sacramento Area Office.

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.

A few administrative records of the California Agency, 1924-1949, are in the Pacific Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration in San Francisco, including Indian family assistance case records, 1924-1948. Many of the records for the Indians under this jurisdiction are in the same NARA Archives, filed under the Sacramento Agency.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1907 thru 1915. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 12-14. Copies of these records are also available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the FamilySearch Library and its family history centers (their ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.