Tule River Indian Agency (California)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Tule (Tularenos), Tejon, Kings River, Mono, Kawai, Wikchamni, and Kern River (Tubatulabal) Bands

History
The Tule River Agency was established in 1864 on the Tule River. A farm on the Tule River had been established by 1858 and was attached to the Tejon Agency. In 1863, that farm was made a reservation and the Indians formerly at Tejon and at Kings River were moved to that farm (reservation). In 1876, the agency was moved to a new reservation on the South Fork of the Tule River in southeastern Tulare County.

Records
Some of the historical recordsof the Tule River Agency are in the Pacific Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in San Francisco. Among them are:


 * Census records, 1897-1936
 * Agency reports and administrative records, 1913-1923
 * School records, 1915-1923
 * Medical records and vital statistics, 1919-1938

The 1900 federal census included population schedules for the Tule River Indian Reservation. The census includes the non-Indian employees of the Tule River Agency, as well as many pages of Indian Population Schedules for the native population of the Reservation. They are recorded as District 72, Tule River Indian Reservation, in Tulare County, California.

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 Tule River Agency, 1884-1887, are on roll 53 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 microfilm roll number 1617726).

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at the Tule River Agency for 1885-1887, and 1915-1923. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, roll 594. 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 microfilm numbers 583053). Annual census rolls were also taken under the name of Mission Tule River Agency for 1886, 1888, 1893, and 1894 thru 1903. They are on rolls 257-259 of Microcopy M595 (FHL film numbers ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.