Rosebud Agency

(See also Whetstone, Spotted Tail, and Upper Platte Agencies)

 Originally known as the Upper Platte Agency, it was renamed Whetstone Agency in 1869, then Spotted Tail Agency in 1874, before finally acquiring the name Rosebud in 1878. The Agency served the Sicangu Lakota people led by Spotted Tail as well as members of the Sans Arcs, Oglala, Hunkpapa and Miniconjou bands.

Whetstone Agency was located on the Missouri River where the free flowing whiskey trade caused Spotted Tail to insist upon relocating the Agency away from accessible river traffic. The Agency first located on the White River near the Nebraska-Dakota border, then moved to Beaver Creek in northwestern Nebraska. A year later, it was moved to the site of the old Ponca Agency on the Missouri River above Yankton. It finally located on Rosebud Creek, in 1878, near its junction with the south fork of the White River.

Chief Milk (an Oglala) and his band were the first to settle on the Rosebud, making their home north of Bonesteel. Swift Bear followed and eventually settled south of Burke on Ponca Creek. Later Medicine Bull settled south of the White River; Good Voice established his band at Oak Creek; Quick Bear, Red Fish, and Red Leaf located in the Norris area, with Red Leaf later moving north of Burke. Other prominent headmen at Rosebud were He Dog, Two Strike, Hollow Horn Bear, Ring Thunder, Stranger Horse, and Yellow Hair.

Today the Rosebud Reservation is situated north of the Nebraska border in central South Dakota in Todd County. It has a land base of 882,416 acres. U. S. Congressman Ben Reifel and nationally renowned opera singer, White Eagle, were Rosebud tribal members.

Top

Allotment Records. NARA Central Plains Region, Kansas City, MO.   Microfilmed by the LDS Church.

Top

Indian Census. NARA Central Plains Region, Kansas City, MO.  Microfilmed by the LDS Church.

Top

Correspondence with Agency Farmers, 1899-1931. These records are housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

The correspondence is arranged in three separate systems: chronologically by year, 1912-1929; alphabetically, 1914-1931; and alphabetically by district, 1899-1924 and represents three separate series of Rosebud records at NARA in Kansas City.

Chronological Correspondence with Farmers, 1912-1929. These are primarily letters received from and copies of letters sent to the district farmers. In most cases the correspondent is the superintendent, but there are letters to or from the day school inspector, teachers, local merchants, or other agency employees. Occasionally there are copies of letters from and to persons other than the farmer. The correspondence chiefly concerns the farmers' supervision of school attendance and truancy, the use of school land and property, student health, the transfer of students to other reservation districts, school staffing, vacations, allotments, rations, construction of buildings, equipment, supplies, and the distribution of annuity payments.

Alphabetical Correspondence with Farmers, 1914-1931. This series consists chiefly of letters received and copies of letters sent by the district farmers. Correspondents are the agency superintendent, other agencies, agency employees, private citizens, and businesses. The subjects covered include the farmer's responsibilities as, in effect, a sub-agent: such matters as allotment leases, work for Indians, students, applications for pro-rata shares of tribal funds, purchases by Indians using trust funds, and other matters which came up in the day to day operation of the district.

Top

Alphabetical Correspondence with Farmers by District, 1899-1924. The series consists of correspondence from and to the farmer in charge of the district. His correspondents include additional farmers, the agency superintendent, the supervisor in charge, and other agency employees. Subjects include monthly subsistence checks, leases and lease payments, allotments, heirship, school attendance, cattle brands, supplies, and equipment. There is a bulletin on Peyote in the 1923 Black Pipe District correspondence. There are only two documents from 1899 and no correspondence for 1900-1904.

Correspondence with the Ponca Agency, 1863-1872. These records are housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

Arranged chronologically by date of correspondence. This series consists primarily of correspondence between the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Ponca Agent (the Ponca Agency at the time was an independent agency; it was never linked to the Rosebud Agency). The correspondence includes circulars, General Order No. 4 issued by the Headquarters, Military Division of the Missouri, subjects include the Big Horn expedition of 1870, treaties, and schools. There is a treaty dated January 23, 1863 between the Pawnee Nation and the Yankton Sioux Tribe made and concluded in Grand Council at the Ponca Village on the Ponca Reservation in the Territory of Dakota. A letter dated August 1871 discusses the proposed visit of the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia who wants to witness Indian ceremonials and participate in a buffalo hunt.

Inherited Interests. NARA Central Plains Region, Kansas City, MO.  Microfilmed by the LDS Church.

Law Enforcement Case Files, 1913-1925. These records are housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

Arranged alphabetically by last name of person or name of company and thereunder chronologically by date of correspondence. There is a U.S. attorney’s file at the beginning of the series. Most of the files are those of people accused of crimes; the remainders pertain to the stock detectives, superintendent, district farmer, other agencies, and businesses with interests in crimes committed by Indians. The type of crimes were usually of the following nature: horse or cattle stealing, selling cattle that they did not own, using pasture land without permission, selling liquor to Indians, and drunkenness.

Miscellaneous Correspondence Received, 1878-1913. These records are housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

The correspondence is arranged chronologically by year and thereunder by date of document. One folder containing undated correspondence is at the beginning of the series.

The letters, mostly manuscript until ca. 1890 and a mixture of manuscript and typescript thereafter, were addressed to the agent from such persons as commercial suppliers, other Indian agencies, agency employees, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Indian boarding schools, and other persons doing business with or interested in the Rosebud Agency. Occasionally there are copies of outgoing correspondence. There is also some correspondence addressed to agency employees other than the agent; most of the 1900-1901 correspondence, for example, is addressed to the day school inspector.

All aspects of the business of the agency were discussed in this correspondence, including employees, employment, financial matters, Indian trading licenses, allotments, the purchase of supplies, and general agency and Office of Indian Affairs policies.

There are significant gaps in last years of these records: gaps of up to several months after 1900, no correspondence for 1911-1912, and practically none for 1910 and 1913.

Miscellaneous Numerical Correspondence File, [1906-1917]. These records are housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

The correspondence is arranged chronologically by year and thereunder numerically according to a locally devised code.

This series is an early local version of the field office decimal code provided by the Office of Indian Affairs in 1925. It was used by the agency from 1909-1917. Most of the superintendent’s office records were channeled into this file. Apparently the agency placed pre-1909 documents in the file as well, as correspondence created s early as 1906 appears.

Much of the file consists of letters received and copies of letters sent; correspondence with all classes of agency correspondents, from the Office of Indian Affairs to business firms, agency employees and private individuals, are represented. In addition, there are forms, reports, bills, receipts and various other documents created or received in the course of operating the agency. While the superintendent’s office was directly involved in the creation or receipt of much of the documentation, other agency officials administrative divisions are also represented.

Quarterly School Reports, 1886-1920. These records are housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

Arranged chronologically by date of report and thereunder alphabetically by name of school. The quarterly school reports were filled out and sent to the Indian Office in Washington. Information provided varies as the report forms changed periodically. All reports provide the name and location of the school, quarter ending date, and a teacher’s certificate; sometimes there is also an agent’s/superintendent’s certificate attesting to the correctness of the report.

Reports for 1886-1892 contain the following information regarding employees: names of employees, positions, salary, number of days on duty during month, how subsisted (by government rations, at personal expense, or contractor). Student information includes: name of student, tribe, age, boarding, day, reads, writes, works in arithmetic, advanced to higher grade during quarter, and number of days in attendance.

Reports for 1894-1904 contain the following information: name of employee, positions, salary, number days on duty during quarter, how subsisted; name of student, tribe, age, sex, boarding, day, number of days in attendance.

The 1910 report includes two sections. The first describes pupils enrolled during the quarter (name, degree of blood, tribe, date entered, name of agency, age, and number of days in attendance). The second describes pupils withdrawn during the quarter (name, degree of blood, tribe, date withdrawn, cause of withdrawal, age, and if transferred to other Indian schools name of school). There is also a summary section which lists the number of pupils in each grade, the number of days school was in session, new pupils enrolled, enrollment during preceding quarters, withdrawals, present enrollment, and the number of boys and girls in school.

The 1912-1920 reports include the student’s name, age, tribe, degree of blood, name of agency and reservation. Also included is the date entered, months in school before enrollment, grade (on entering here, at date of report) in what trade or industry instructed during quarter, distance to nearest public school from home, number of days in attendance, and remarks. The reports include a recapitulation section and a section for breakdown of pupils, by grade, ages, tribes, degree of blood, number of outing pupils, number of pupils transported at government expense, and value of school products consumed.

There are gaps in the records. Not all quarters are available for any given year and the schools the reports cover vary from quarter to quarter and one year to the next. There are no reports for 1893, 1895, 1905-1909, and 1911.

Top

Ration Books. NARA Central Plains Region, Kansas City, MO.    Microfilmed by the LDS Church.

Records of Indian Police on Duty, 1878-1904. These records are housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

Arranged chronologically by date of entry or report. The records cover the following years, 1878-1880, 1882-1883, 1888, 1901, and 1903-1904. There is one undated sheet. The information given varies from year to year. Information usually given is name, rank, date service began, and pay per month, along with discharge date, physical description, degree of blood, and tribe. Starting with 1888 a official form "Descriptive Statement of Proposed Changes in the Indian Police Force" was used to record information. Information on the form is as follows: name, position, full blood or mixed, name of tribe, birthplace, married or single, number in family, age, height, weight, measurement of chest (lungs inflated), measurement of chest (lungs not inflated), date of commencing service, compensation per month, and remarks. There are also quarterly reports for fiscal year 1904. The information on these reports is as follows: name, rank, period of service, rate of pay, and amount received.

Top

Records Relating to Spotted Tail’s Murder & Wanda Spotted Tail, 1879-1882; 1919-1922. These records are housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

Arranged chronologically by date of correspondence. This series consists of records of the murder of Spotted Tail in 1881 by Crow Dog, and the later attempt by a Wanda Spotted Tail to prove that she was Spotted Tail’s daughter and therefore gain an allotment on the Rosebud Reservation. The murder correspondence includes narratives of the events of the murder, attempt to secure funding for the appeal of Crow Dog’s death sentence, and a copy of the Abstract of Plaintiff in Error. The Wanda Spotted Tail correspondence contains her letters to the superintendent at Rosebud and copies of his replies, as well as other correspondence in her campaign to be acknowledged as the daughter of Spotted Tail. The testimony of Spotted Tail’s son William to the effect that Wanda Spotted Tail is not his sister and he knows nothing about her is also included.

Special Case Files. These records are housed at the National Archives  in Washington, DC and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

Spotted Tail Agency Correspondence, 1875-1878. These records are housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were microfilmed by the SD State Archives. Copies of this film may be purchased from the SDSA.

Arranged chronologically by date of correspondence. This series primarily includes correspondence received by the Spotted Tail Agency. (Spotted Tail Agency was an early [1874-1878] name for the Rosebud Agency) There is also correspondence received by the acting Indian Agent at Camp Sheridan, Nebraska and the commander of the District of the Black Hills at Camp Robinson. The correspondents include the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, military officers, other Indian agents, businesses, employees, and Indian traders. Subjects discussed are change of location of the agency, transfer of Indians between agencies, rations, supplies, finances, estates, crimes, education, and proceedings of boards of survey. Some of the correspondence mentions various Sioux chiefs, among them Spotted Tail, Crazy Horse, and Red Cloud.

Top

SD State Archives,  605-773-3804, fax 605-773-6041; email archref@state.sd.us