Kiowa Indian Agency (Oklahoma)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Wichita, Caddo from Texas and Alabama-Coushatti

History
The Kiowa Agency [also called the Kiowa and Comanche Agency and the Kiowas, Apache, and Comanche Agency] was established in 1864. The tribes assigned to it -- Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche -- had been previously assigned to the Upper Arkansas Agency, and before 1855, to the Upper Platte Agency. Even after the establishment of the Kiowa Agency, it was closely associated with the Upper Platte Agency. The Kiowa Agency also has some responsibility for some Caddo Indians during the Civil War and for some Comanche Indians living in Texas.

There was no fixed location for the Kiowa Agency during its early years. It was supposed to have its headquarters at Fort Larned, Kansas, but due to the nomadic life of the tribes assigned to it, the agent spent most of his time moving about. By the Treaty of Medicine Lodge Creek in 1867, the three tribes agreed to settle in an area south of the Washita River in Indian Territory. An agency headquarters was located on Cache Creek near Fort Sill.

From May 1869 to July 1870, the Wichita Agency was consolidated with the Kiowa Agency, but in 1870, the Wichita Agency again became independent. The two were again consolidated on 1 September 1878 and the combined agency became the Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita Agency.

Agents and Appointment Dates
Jesse H. Leavenworth July 2, 1864, Albert G. Boone July 23, 1868, Laurie Tatum April 22, 1869, James M. Haworth April 1, 1873, and Philemon B. Hunt February 18, 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.

Some records of the old Kiowa Agency are in the Oklahoma Historical Society as part of the records of the Kiowa, Comanche and Wichita Agency records housed there. Among these records are:


 * Census rolls, 1879-1922
 * School records, 1870-1929
 * Various administrative records, 1854-1930

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Kiowa Agency, 1864-1880, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 375-386. 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 Kiowa Agency, 1875-1900, are on roll 20 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 ).

Records Available Through the Family History Library

 * Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1909 thru 1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 200 thru 209. 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.


 * Births and Deaths 1924-1932, Census supplements FHL film 576909
 * Births and Deaths 1930-1936, Census supplements FHL film 576911


 * Agency Records 1892-1947. FHL film: 1028507, 1028509-1028520, 1028476-1028483, 1249785-1249786