Rosebud Agency Records, 1875-1931. (Microfilm Collection)
The original paper records that were microfilmed to create this collection are
housed at the National Archives, Central Plains Region, in Kansas City, MO and were
microfilmed by the South Dakota State Archives.
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.
|