Crow Tribe of Indians

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and other agency records.

Alternate Names and Spellings Crow Tribe of Montana, Absaroka , Apsáalooke

Tribal Headquarters
Crow Tribe of Montana Bacheeitche Avenue / PO Box 159 Crow Agency, MT 59022 Phone: 406-638-3708 Website

History
The first recorded contact between the Crows and non-Indians was with the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806. The tribe was later involved with trading and interacting with mountain men during rendezvous.

In 1825 strong tribal leaders initiated a division of the tribe, and the Mountain Crow and River Crow tribes were formed. This same year some Crow warriors assisted the United States military in fighting other Indian tribes.

A treaty was signed in 1851 at Fort Laramie which included the Crow Tribe, but it was the 1868 Treaty which established a reservation for the Crows in Montana.

During the 1870's and the Indian Wars for the West, the Crow warriors served as scouts fighting against the Sioux and Nez Perce. In the historic Battle of the Little Big Horn, General Custer had Crows serving as scouts.

The 1880 treaty specified that the "Crow Indians shall consent to permit cattle to be driven across their reservation or grazed on the same, the Secretary of the Interior shall fix the amount to be paid by parties desiring to so drive or graze cattle; all moneys arising from this source to be paid to the Indians..."

Even though they had served the U.S. military, the tribe was removed to the Crow Reservation in Big Horn and Yellowstone Counties, Montana.

The Crow Tribe adopted their Constitution and By-Laws in 2001.

Brief Timeline

 * 1806: The Lewis and Clark expedition encountered the Tribe
 * 1821: The tribe interacted with mountain men during fur-trading rendezvous
 * 1825: Divide into Mountain Crow and River Crow
 * 1825: Joined the United States soldiers in fighting other Indian tribes
 * 1851: Treaty signed at Fort Laramie, Wyoming (38.5 million acres in Montana)
 * 1868: Treaty at Fort Laramie established a reservation in Montana, south to the Yellowstone River
 * 1870: During the wars for the West the Crow were allies of the U.S. Army, serving as scouts, and fought against the Sioux and the Nez Perce.
 * 1876: Crow warriors acted as scouts for General Custer; Custer defeated at Little Bighorn in July 1876
 * 1880: Treaty at Washington D.C.,
 * 1887: Crow Indian outbreak led by Deaf Bull near Crow Agency, Montana.
 * 1888: Ceded most of their land; removed to Crow Reservation in Big Horn and Yellowstone Counties, Montana
 * 1948 The Tribe addoped a written constitution.

Additional References to the History of the Tribe

 * Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Crow tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods.
 * John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America
 * David Bushnell's Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi.
 * There is also a history of the Crow Tribe on the website for the Little Big Horn College.
 * Another history of the Crow Tribe is on their tribal website.
 * Robert Harry Lowie. The Crow Indians. NY: Farrar and Rinehart. c.1935.

Agencies
The following agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs had jurisdiction over the Crow for the time periods indicated. BIA agencies were responsible to keep such records as census rolls, allotment (land) records, annuity rolls, school records, correspondence, and other records of individual Indians under their jurisdiction. For details, see the page for the respective agency.

The agencies which had jurisdiction over a major portion of the Crow in the United States were:


 * Upper Missouri Agency, 1824-1864
 * Fort Berthold Agency, 1864-1869
 * Crow Agency, 1869-present

Superintendencies
St. Louis Superintendency

Central Superintendency

Dakota Superintendency

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

See: Crow Indian Agency Montana, Upper Missouri Agency and Fort Berthold Agency and Crow Agency South Dakota

Census
The Bureau of Indian Affairs compiled annual Indian Census Rolls on many of the reservations from 1885 to 1940. They list the names of individuals, their age, and other details about each person enumerated. For more information about these records, click here.

The following table lists the census rolls for the Crow Indians:

Correspondence
There are several sets of correspondence between the supervising offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the local offices -- agencies, subagencies, etc. The correspondence is often historical in nature, including reports of the conditions among local groups of Indians, hostilities, plans for building facilities, activities of traders or missionaries, etc. Occasionally, there will be names of individuals but little detail about them. For more information about American Indian correspondence, click here.

The following table lists some correspondence relating to the Crow Indians:

Land Cessions
Land cessions to the United States, the Northern Pacific Railroad, and the State of Montana reduced the size of the reservation.

Population
Communities on the reservation, with sizable Tribal population: Lodge Grass, Pryor, St. Xavier, Wyola, Hardin,Fort Smith, and Crow Agency

Treaties
During the latter part of the 18th Century and most of the 19th Century, treaties were negotiated between the federal government and individual Indian tribes. The treaties provide helpful information about the history of the tribe, but usually only include the names of those persons who signed the treaty. For more information about treaties, click here.

Treaties to which the Crow Indians were a part were:

The year link (year of the treaty) will connect to an online copy of the treaty.


 * 1825 August 4, at Mandan Village
 * 1851 September 17, at Fort Laramie
 * 1868 May 7, at Fort Laramie
 * 1880 May 14, at Washington - unratified

Tribal Office Records
The Tribal Office is responsible for enrollment records, vital records, tribal police records, tribal court records, employment records and many others. They are an entirely different set of records from those kept by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most of them remain in the Tribal Office. For details, contact that office at the address for the Tribal Headquarters listed above.

Vital Records
Prior to the Indian Reorganization Act, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, through their agencies, may have recorded some vital events. Some were recorded on health forms, such as the "Sanitary Record of Sick, Injured, Births, Deaths, etc." Others were recorded as supplements to the "Indian Census Rolls." Some were included in the unindexed reports and other correspondence of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Some vital records for the Crow Indians include:


 * Crow Agency, M595, births and deaths 1925-1932, FHL film 575776(Supplements to the Indian Census Rolls)

Important Websites

 * Constitution and By-Laws of the Crow Tribe of Indians
 * State Office of Indian Affairs article about the Crow Indians
 * Tribal Website of the Crow Nation
 * Wikipedia article on the Crow Nation

Crow Tribe

 * Algier, Keith. The Crow and the Eagle: A Tribal History from Lewis and Clark to Custer FHL book 970.3 C885a WorldCat
 * Carlson, Paul H. The Plains Indians. College Station, Texas: Texas A.M. University Press, c.1998.
 * Denig, Edwin Thompson. Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri: Sioux, Arickaras, Assiniboines, Crees, Crows. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, c.1981. The Civilization of American Indian Series:059.
 * Hoxie, Frederick E. Parading Through History: The Making of the Crow Nation in America, 1805-1935. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press, c.1995.
 * Lowie, Robert H. The Crow Indians. New York, New York: Farrar &amp; Rinehart, c.1935.

General
For background information to help find American Indian ancestors see For Further Reading.