Scope and Content Note
The Jesse W. Griest Papers span the years 1869 to 1884 with the bulk of the material dating between 1873 and 1880. This collection comprises correspondence, letterpress books, diaries, annual reports, census records, financial records, tribal council notes, petitions, and other material documenting Griest’s career as United States Indian Agent to the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians in Gage County, Nebraska between 1873 and 1880. Material is arranged alphabetically by subject grouping, including agency records, correspondence, diaries and personal material, and oversize material.
The agency records include census records and documents listing tribe members, notes from council meetings with Otoe-Missouria chiefs, petitions from the tribal leadership regarding disputes over Otoe lands and plans for a delegation to Washington, D.C., and extensive documentation of the agency’s financial situation, which includes payrolls, annuities and disbursements paid out to Indians, statements of property issued to Indians, and inventories of goods and supplies. Annual reports describe progress with regard to adaptation of European-American style agricultural development, implementation of an education system, financial administration of the tribe, relationships between tribe members and neighboring tribes, and internal debates over the issue of relocation to Indian Territory. Agency records also contain monthly reports, supply requirements, and floor plans documenting the Industrial School established on the reservation during Griest’s tenure and staffed by his wife, Sibbilla Griest, and material detailing encroachments and poaching by settlers. Records dating between 1869 and 1872 represent Griest’s predecessor, Albert L. Green, and include legal agreements, received correspondence, and an inventory of tribe members, listing their ages and needs.
The correspondence in this collection documents Griest’s career as an agent, as well as his relationships with fellow members of the Society of Friends. General correspondence consists primarily of incoming letters, while the letterpress books comprise copies of outgoing letters. Much of the correspondence is between Griest and members of the Society of Friends, many of whom represented the Indian Aid Association and had ties to Griest’s work at the Otoe-Missouria agency. Prominent correspondents include John Saunders, president of the Indian Aid Association, Barclay White, superintendent of Indian Affairs, M.B. Kent, agent for the Nemaha Agency, and other members of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (Hicksite), including Sam and Mary Jeanes, Amos Peasly, and David Petit, among others. Official correspondence with the Department of the Interior and various Bureau of Indian Affairs commissioners is also included, as is a small amount of correspondence to family members describing life in the western United States. To a lesser extent, letters from Otoe-Missouria Indians are included and document heath, crime within the agency, and other topics.
The diaries and personal material is smallest in scope and includes documentation of Griest’s employment history and diaries written by both Griest and his wife while they lived in Nebraska. Griest’s oath of office, appointment letters, reappointment letters, and resignation material comprise his employment records. Diaries written by Griest span the years 1878 to 1880 and describe the weather and his work at the agency. Diaries written by Sibbilla Griest date from 1873 and 1877 and describe the weather and, at times, her work at the Industrial School.
The oversize material was removed from the collection and is described according to the container and folder from which the items were removed.