The Indispensable Indian Agent

The most important civilian officer most Indians ever saw was the Indian agent, created in George Washington's day and  as part of the Department of the Interior in 1849.  The agents provided information to the federal government and represented "The Great White Father."  With only his wife, a subagent and an interpreter, the agent had to handle Indian relations over hundreds of square miles and also aid any whites passing through.

A good agent would recruit a farmer and a teacher and his outpost would become a small civilization with log homes and an office, warehouses, smithy and farm buildings, school and council houses, corn and potato fields, orchards and livestock.  An agent had to travel a long way among the tribes for pow wows and entertain all Indians who wanted to talk with the government.  He won friendship by giving out prizes and supplies and feeding them when in need. 

The Indian agent tried to keep white poachers from encroaching on Indian land and from selling liquor to them.  He didn't always succeed. He was also usually unsuccessful in his attempt to vaccinate the Indians and teach them farming, both heartily resisted.  Any foreigner found trading furs without a permit was fined, and usually whites found harming the Indians were punished.

Indian agents compiled a census, enforced treaties between the government and the Indian tribes, and distributed annuities.  On special occasions he escorted Indian chiefs to Washington, DC. to discuss treaties.  Unfortunately, most agents were dishonest - getting kickbacks from traders and pocketing annuity money. 

A few were incorruptible, such as Lawrence Taliaferno, head of St. Peter's Agency in Minnesota, who spent $1,000 of his own money to buy supplies for the tribes.  After he retired Sioux chiefs visited him and Little Crow said, "My old Father, we love you, we respect you.  Since you have left us a dark cloud has hung over our nation..  We know your heart."  Agents like Taliaferno were few and far between...

Next time...Kansas Pre Civil War
______________________________
Today in Pioneer History:  "On October 2, 1835, the growing tensions between Mexico and Texas erupt into violence when Mexican soldiers attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, sparking the Texan war for independence.