The Crow Indian Agency was established in Montana Territory by a treaty concluded at Fort Laramie on May 7, 1868. An earlier treaty had been made at Fort Laramie on September 17, 1851, establishing various tribal boundaries in Montana, but had never been ratified formally. The 1868 treaty provided for the construction of an agency complex on the south side of the Yellowstone River near Otter Creek, and the assignment of Indian agents to locally administer tribal affairs and relations with the United States government. Agency headquarters were moved to the Stillwater River near present Absarokee, Montana, in 1875, and in 1884 to its present site on the Little Big Horn River.
Records. 1877-1894. .5 linear foot. This collection consists of 8 letterpress books of outgoing correspondence of Indian agents at the Crow Agency (1877-1894). The books are an incomplete run, representing approximately half of the correspondence for the period. There are several gaps of a year or more, the longest being from August 1883-September 1887. The agents were Lewis H. Carpenter (to July 1877), George W. Frost (July 1877-December 1878), Augustus R. Keller (December 1878-December 1881), acting agent C.H. Barstow (March-June 1880), Henry J. Armstrong (January 1882-December 1885), Henry E. Williamson (December 1885-May 1888), and Moses P. Wyman (July 1889-June 1894). The largest proportion of the correspondence consists of reports and letters to U.S. Commissioners of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. Included in these letters are minutes of several meetings of the agents with the tribal council, censuses, texts of treaties, inventories of Agency property, and financial reports. In addition there are letters to companies and individuals doing business with the Agency, and with military officers in nearby forts. This collection has been microfilmed (Microfilm 293).
Arrangement chronologically.
Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request
Some material transferred to Library. See inventory below for more information.
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The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection