Superintendencies of Indian Affairs

Superintendents of Indian Affairs for a specific locality existed from approximately 1803 until 1878, when the last Superintendency was abolished. After 1878, agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported directly to the Commissioner's Office in Washington, DC, at least until the BIA created Area Offices.

A Superintendent of Indian Affairs was an administrator, communicating and overseeing the agents who worked directly with individual tribes. It was the responsibility of the superintendent to see that the agents were following official government policy. Records for Superintendencies exist in the National Archives and copies of many of them are also available in other research facilities.

Arizona Superintendency

 * Established 1863; abolished 1873

Arkansas Superintendency

 * Established 1819; abolished 1834; to Western Superintendency

California Superintendency

 * Established 1852; abolished 1873

Central Superintendency

 * Established 1851; abolished 1878; from St. Louis Superintendency

Colorado Superintendency

 * Established 1861; abolished 1870

Dakota Superintendency

 * Established 1861; discontinued 1870; reestablished 1877; abolished 1878; from part of Central Superintendency

Florida Superintendency

 * Established 1824; abolished 1834

Idaho Superintendency

 * Established 1863; abolished 1870

Iowa Superintendency

 * Established 1838; abolished 1846; to St. Louis Superintendency

Michigan Superintendency

 * Established 1805; abolished 1851; to Northern Superintendency

Minnesota Superintendency

 * Established 1849; abolished 1856; to Northern Superintendency

Missouri Superintendency

 * Established 1813; abolished 1848; duties transferred to St. Louis Superintendency after 1851

Montana Superintendency

 * Established 1864; abolished 1873

Nevada Superintendency

 * Established 1861; abolished 1870

New Mexico Superintendency

 * Established 1850; abolished 1874

Northern Superintendency

 * Established 1851; abolished 1876; from Michigan and Wisconsin Superintendencies

Oregon Superintendency

 * Established 1848; abolished 1873

Southern Superintendency

 * Established 1851; abolished 1870; from Western Superintendency

St. Louis Superintendency

 * Established 1822; abolished 1851; to Central Superintendency

Utah Superintendency

 * Established 1850; abolished 1870

Washington Superintendency

 * Established 1853; abolished 1874

Western Superintendency

 * Established 1832; abolished 1851; to Southern Superintendency

Wisconsin Superintendency

 * Established 1836; abolished 1848; to Northern Superintendency

Wyoming Superintendency

 * Established 1869; abolished 1870

The Superintendencies Listed by Date of Creation
The dates of the records listed in the following chart may extend beyond the date when the Superintendency was abolished. The Bureau of Indian Affairs occasionally filed correspondence under the name of the Superintendency even after it had ceased to operate. Pre-1824 correspondence was under the jurisdiction of the War Department.

= References =

Hill, Edward E. The Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880: Historical Sketches. New York, New York: Clearwater Press, [1974].

Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington [District of Columbia]: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981.

Historical Sketches for Jurisdictional and Subject Headings Used for the Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880. National Archives Microcopy T1105.

Preliminary Inventory No. 163: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington, DC. Available online