Quapaw Indian Agency - History

History

Among the tribes who settled peacefully in these lands were people of the Algonquin and the Iroquois tribes who, in the time of Samuel de Champlain, were great enemies. Here also, plowing and harvesting their fields together and sharing each other's native ceremonials, was a tribe of the mighty Sioun nation, as well as one of the Lupuamian linguistic family. Within the memories of their grandfathers, these old and powerful tribes had owned many hundreds of thousands of acres in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Since early territorial days of 1867 an agency had existed to the benefit of these Indians. This was in order that members of these tribes could be in contact with the agent of the federal government. But not all of the business handled by the agent was tribal business. The Indian Agent often found himself being the mediator in settling neighborhood and family disputes, as well.

Because the land was originally given to the Quapaw Tribe, it became known as The Quapaw Agency Lands. Prior to this, it and other nearby areas had been known as The Neosho Indian Agency, The Shawnee Indian Agency and the Seneca Indian Agency. It was originally located four miles west of Seneca, Missouri, and later moved to Wyandotte in the Indian Territory. In 1920, two agencies were established; the Seneca and Quapaw. In 1922 they were combined and became the Quapaw Agency.

Due to the close proximity of their reservations, there were many intermarriages between the tribes and several of the tribes eventually merged. Therefore, some of the individually listings will lead the researcher to the tribal name they are known by today.