Mission Indian Agency (California)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
The Mission Indians of California, including the Cahuilla, Cupeno, Serrano, and the Luiseno bands

History
The Mission Agency was originally established in 1865 for various bands of the Mission Indians of California.

On 16 November 1920, the Campo School, Pala School, and Soboba School jurisdictions were consolidated into the Mission Agency. It was divided into Northern Mission and Southern Mission, 25 November 1921 and was again consolidated, 21 April 1922.

In 1948 the Mission Agency was consolidated with the Sacramento Agency and the Hoopa Valley Agency to form the California Agency and the jurisdiction over the tribes which had been under the Mission Agency was assumed by the Riverside Area Office when it was established in 1955.

Agents and Appointment Dates
John Q. A. StanleyMay 8, 1865, Lt. Augustus P. Greene October 6, 1869, John R. Tansey December 12, 1870

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

For a description of the various records, their content, and their availability, link to the pages for each type of record. Each individual agency also has a page describing its history and the location of their records. An alphabetical list of the agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs can be found below. They are also linked under the topic "American Indians" for each state. Pages for individual sub-agencies are listed alphabetically under the category of "American Indian Subagencies" and are linked under the topic of "American Indians" for each state where they existed.

Many records of the Mission Agency are in the Pacific Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Laguna Niguel, including:


 * Register of vital statistics, 1922-1947
 * School census records, 1922-1930
 * Health reports, 1923-1932
 * Individual history cards, 1924-1941
 * Soboba Indian Hospital birth and death certificates, 1927-1947
 * Pala family history narratives, 1931
 * Individual Indian files, 1933-1947
 * Degree of Indian blood cards, 1936
 * Heirship cards, 1940
 * Records of Subagencies reporting the Mission Agency, including:


 * Morongo Subagency, 1922-1947
 * Pala Subagency, 1922-1951
 * Palm Springs Subagency, 1936-1964
 * Torres-Martinez Subagency, 1920-1946

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 Mission Agency, 1881-1900 are on roll 26 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 Mission Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Mission Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 247, Mission Indian Reservation, in Riverside County, California.

Microfilm copies of ...Narrative and Statistical Reports... for the Mission Agency, 1921-1938, are included in National Archives Microcopy M1011, Rolls 83-87, available in the National Archives system and in the collections of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (their ). Reports for some years are missing.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1922 thru 1939. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, Rolls 260-267. 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, 1931-1943. FHL film: 1249980 Items 1-3