Cherokee Indian Agency (Oklahoma)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Cherokee

History
The Cherokee Agency in the west was established in 1813 and was located in Arkansas until 1830. At that time, the Cherokee Agency in Arkansas moved to Fort Gibson in Indian Territory. For a short time (1834-1837), it became a subagency and was made responsible for the Seneca and the Mixed Band of Seneca and Shawnee. It was again made a full agency in 1837.

This agency was also made responsible for the Cherokee from east of the Mississippi who were removed to the west, mostly in 1838. In 1851, the agency headquarters was moved from Fort Gibson to a location near Tahlequah. This agency was forced to leave Tahlequah during the Civil War, during which time the agency buildings there were destroyed. After the war, the agent remained at Fort Gibson until the agency was rebuilt and re-established at Tahlequah.

Records
Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Cherokee Agency, 1824-1836, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 77-79. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their microfilm roll numbers 1660807-1660809). Correspondence from this agency was filed by the Office of Indian Affairs under the heading "Cherokee [West]." That heading was used until 1837, when the Cherokee Agency in Indian Territory (later Oklahoma) was made a full agency.

A few administrative records for the Cherokee Agency (West), located in Arkansas, are in the National Archives in Washington, DC and have been inventoried by them. .