Grand Ronde Indian Agency (Oregon)

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
Molala, Clackamas, Yamel, Kalapuya, Umpqua, Shasta, Rogue River, Crow Creek, Lakmit, Santiam, Tumwater Umqua, and Wapata

History
The Grand Ronde Agency was established in 1856, when the agent was moved from the Rogue River Agency to Grand Ronde. It had charge of a number the remnants of various bands, mainly from the Willamette and Rogue River Valleys.

From 1909 to 1938, the Grand Ronde Agency was consolidated with the Salem or Chemawa School, which operated as an agency during that time. In 1938, the Grand Ronde-Siletz Agency was established, thus relieving the school of its agency duties. The consolidated agency was terminated in 1956.

See also Siletz and Salem Agencies

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.

Most of the records for the Grand Ronde Agency appear to have been carried down as separate records when its duties were carried out by the Salem School. When the Grand Ronde-Siletz Agency was established, again the records appear to have gone into the holdings of the new agency and are among the records of that consolidated agency now housed in the Pacific Alaska Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Seattle. Among these records are:


 * School attendance records, 1892-1901
 * Allotment records, 1887-1894

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 Ronde Agency, 1880-1899, are on rolls 17-18 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 ).

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1885-1892, and 1894-1914. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, roll 169. 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.

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Grande Ronde Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Grande Ronde Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 182, Grande Ronde Indian Reservation, in Polk County, Oregon, and in District 182, Grande Ronde Indian Reservation, in Yamhill County, Oregon.

Records Available through the FamilySearch Library

 * School Records.FS Library film: 1025311-1025312
 * Miscellaneous records 1881-1952.FS Library film: 1025314-1025315
 * Probate Heirship, Allotment Records 1887-1930.FS Library film: 1025306-1025308
 * Census Records, 1885-`1892, 1894-1914. FS Library film: 576858
 * Census 1932-1945, 1950.FS Library film: 1025313