Superintendencies of Indian Affairs

United States

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Bureau of Indian Affairs

Superintendencies

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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.

Records

Arkansas Trading House, 1805-1810. M142. Letter Book FHL Collection, film: 1025157

Choctaw Trading House, 1803-1824. T500. FHL Collection, film: 1025085-1025090 Creek Trading House, 1795-1816. M4. Letter Book FHL Film: 1024433

Creek Factory of the Office of Indian Trade, 1795-1821. M1334.FHL Film: 1605523 (first film of thirteen)

Natchitoches Sulphur Fork Factory, 1809-1821. T1029. FHL Collection, film: 1025158

The Superintendencies, Listed Alphabetically

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.

State Chronological	Records	Record Group	NARA#	FamilySearch Catalog First Film	Rolls
Missouri Superintendency  1813-1822	Existing records would be filed with the correspondence of the War Department	-	-	-	-
Arkansas Superintendency 1824-1834	Tribes: Cherokee, Quapaw, Choctaw, Osage, Shawnee, Caddo and Delaware 1825-1826 Quapaw removed to Caddo or Red River Agency 1834 Most Indians had been removed from Arkansas 1834 Indians west of Arkansas were placed under the new Western Superintendency (Cherokee, Choctaw, Quapaw and others)	-	-	1,661,759	-
St. Louis Superintendency 1822-1851		-	-	1,661,477-486	-
Florida Superintendency 1824-1853	Tribes: Seminole Agency: Seminole or Florida Subagency: Apalachicola	-	-	1,661,616-21	-
Michigan Superintendency 1824-1851	Tribes: Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Menominee, Winnebago, Wyandot, Seneca, Shawnee, Delaware, Miami, Oneida, Stockbridge, Munsee and Ottawa of Maumee 1832-1834 The Six Nations of New York were attached to the Michigan Superintendency	75	M1	FHL Film 1604649	71 rolls
Iowa Superintendency 1838-1849	Tribes Sac and Fox 1845 Sauk and Fox moved to the Osage River west of Missouri (now Kansas).	-	-	-1,661,093	-
Western Superintendency 1832-1851	Tribes: Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, Osage, Seneca and Mixed Band of Seneca and Shawnee, Quapaw, Seminole Chickasaw, Caddo, Kiowa Comanche and others 1839 Chickasaw moved west - Oklahoma	75	M640	FHL Film 1602871	22
Wisconsin Superintendency 1836-1848	Tribes: Sauk and Fox, Winnebago, Chippewa, Menominee, Oneida, Stockbridge, Munsee, Sioux and Iowa	75	M951	FHL Film 1618086	4 rolls
California Superintendency 1849-1880	Tribes: Tejon, Tule (Tularenos) Mono, Kern River (Tubatulabal), Wikchamni, Nomelaki, Kings River, Fresno, Kawia, Nuimok, Noi-sas, Wailaki, Yupu, Yuki, Klamath, Hupa, Saia, Mattole, Pit River, Redwood (Whilkut), Wappo, Yokaia (Ukiah), Kianamaras, Pomo, Salan Pomo (Potter), Concow (Konkau) and Mission Indians.	-	-	1,660,927-944	-
Minnesota Superintendency 1849-1856	Tribes: Sioux, Chippewa, Winnebago, Assiniboin and Mandan	75	M872 / 842	FHL Film1618093	9 rolls
Oregon Superintendency 1848-1880	Tribes: Umpqua, Umatilla, Cayuse, Wallawalla, Wasco. Shoshoni (Snake), Kalapuya, Clackamas, Rogue River, Warm Springs, Shasta, Klamath, Modoc, Paiute, Tenion, Nez Perce, Molala, Yamel, Joshua, Sixes (Kwatami), Chastacosta, Chetco and Bannock	75	M2	FHL Film 1617787	29 rolls
New Mexico Superintendency 1849-1880	Tribes: Navajo, Southern Apache, Utah (Ute), Abiquiu (Ute and Jicarilla Apache), Conejos (Tabaquache Ute) Pueblo, Tucson (Pima, Papago, Maricopa and Apache), Cimarron (Jicarilla Apache and Moache Ute) and Mescalero	75	T21	FHL Film 1617620	30 rolls
Utah Superintendency 1849-1880	Tribes: Ute, Shoshoni, Bannock, Paiute and Washo	75	M834	FHL Film 1025139	2 rolls
Central Superintendency 1813,1851-1880	Tribes: Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandot, Kickapoo, Kansa, Sauk and Fox (of Mississippi and Missouri), Iowa, Potawatomi, Chippewa, Ottawa, Munsee, Peoria, Wea, Kaskaskia, Piankeshaw, Miami, Oto, Missouri, Omaha, Pawnee, Ponca, Kowa, Apache (Kiowa-Apache), Comanche, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux and others	75	M856	FHL Film 1602893	108 rolls
Northern Superintendency 1851-1876	Tribes: Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Menominee, Oneida, Stockbridge, Mackinac, Omaha, Pawnee, Otoe (Oto and Missouri Indians), Great Nemaha (Sauk and Fox of Missouri and Iowa) and Winnebago  1863 many of the Winnebago and Sioux Indians moved to Dakota Territory	75	M1166	FHL Film 1490921	35 rolls
Southern Superintendency 1851-1871	Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole, Quapaw, Seneca and Mixed Band of Seneca and Shawnee, and Osage Indians of southern Kansas, Wichita and Kichai. In 1859 Caddo, Anadarko, Waco Tonkawa, Hainai, Kichai, Tawakoni, Delaware, Shawnee and Comanche Indians were moved from Texas to Wichita Agency in Indian Territory 1861-1864 Indians loyal to U.S. fled to Kansas, after the Civil War the Indians began to return to Indian territory.	75	M640	FHL Film 1602878	22 rolls
Washington Superintendency 1853-1880	Tribes: Makah, Skokomish, Yakima, Colville, Puyallup, Tulalip, Nisqualli, Nez Perce, Flathead, Spokan, Pend d'Oreille, Cayuse, Paloos, Wallawalla, Quinaielt, Blackfeet, Chehalix, Chilkat, Chinook, Clackamas, Clallam, Lake, Klikitat, Coeur d'Alene, Cowlitz. Dwamish, Lummi, Muckleshoot, Quileute, Quaitso (Queet), Squaxon and Swinomish	75	M5	FHL Film 1637277	26 rolls
Colorado Superintendency 1861-1880
Dakota Superintendency 1861-1880	Bands of Sioux: Hunkpapa, Oglala, Yankton, Blackfee, Brule, Sisseton, Wahpeton, Yanktonai, San Arcs, Miniconjou, Two Kettles (Oohenonpa), Cut Head (Pabaska) and Santee	75	M1016	FHL Film 1549631	13 rolls
Nevada Superintendency 1861-1880		75	M0837	FHL Film 1637276	1 roll
Idaho Superintendency 1863-1880	Tribes: Nez Perce, Shoshone, Bannock, Coeur d'Alene, Kutenai, Pend d'Oreille and Spokan	75	M832	FHL Film 1580047	3 rolls
Arizona Superintendency 1863-1880	Tribes:Pima, Papago, Maricopa, Tame Apache, Papago, Yavapai, Walapai, Havasupai, Mojave, Yuma, Moqui Pueblo and Scattered Apache	75	M734	FHL Film 1694796	8 rolls
Montana Superintendency 1864-1880	Tribes: Blackfeet, Piegan, Blood (Kainah), Grosventre, Flathead, Kutenai, Pend d'Oreille, Crow, Assiniboin and Bands of Sioux	75	M833	FHL Film 1618090	3 rolls
Wyoming Superintendency 1869-1880	Tribes: Eastern Shoshoni, Bannock, Arapaho, Cheyenne and Sioux	75	M1016	FHL Film 1549631	13 rolls

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