Otoe Indian Agency (Nebraska)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Otoe, Missouri, Pawnee

History
The Otoe Agency was established in 1856 in the Blue River Valley in southern Nebraska. It was responsible for the Oto and Missouri Indians and, until 1859, for the Pawnee. A separate Pawnee Agency was established in 1859. In 1881, the Otoe Agency moved to Red Rock in Indian Territory and was consolidated the following year into the Ponca, Pawnee, and Otoe Agency.

Agents and Appointment Dates
John A. Alston 1856, William W. Dennison 1857, John Baker 1861, William Daily 1864, John L. Smith 1866, Albert L. Green 1869, Jesse W. Griest April 1, 1873, Robert S. Gardner June 16, 1880,and Lewellyn E. Woodin July 21, 1880

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 these offices. The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Nebraska has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs..., Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians[9], and others.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Otoe Agency, 1856-1876, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 652-655. 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 Otoe Agency, 1874 are on roll 34 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 ).

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1906-1919. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 317-328. 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 subscription web site.