Welcome to the Sac & Fox history and genealogy page. If you are researching a Sac & Fox ancestor who lived in Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, or the Great Lakes region, the records can lead through several different agencies, reservations, and historical names. The people commonly called Sac & Fox include the Sauk, or Thakiwaki, and the Meskwaki, or Fox. Although the two peoples were historically associated and closely related in language and culture, they developed separate political histories. The Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma is primarily descended from the Sauk people and has been located in central Oklahoma since the 1870s.
For genealogists, it is important to remember that a family's records may identify an ancestor simply as Sac & Fox, Sauk, or by the name of an agency or reservation rather than by the modern tribal name. Oklahoma records may also appear under the Sac & Fox Agency, Shawnee Agency, or earlier Sac & Fox records from Kansas.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| Before European contact | The Sauk and Meskwaki peoples lived in the Great Lakes region. The Sauk were associated with areas around present-day Michigan and later moved westward through the Great Lakes and Mississippi Valley. |
| 1700s | Sauk communities became established in the Illinois and Mississippi River region. Their history became increasingly connected with French, British, and later American expansion. |
| 1804 | A treaty with the United States used the combined designation "Sauk and Fox," a name that continued to appear in federal records even though the Sauk and Meskwaki remained distinct peoples. |
| 1830 | The Sac & Fox left their principal Illinois settlements as American settlement expanded westward. |
| 1831-1846 | Sauk communities lived in what became Iowa. Conflict and federal pressure during this period included the Black Hawk War of 1832. |
| 1842 | The Sac & Fox ceded their remaining lands west of the Mississippi River and prepared for removal from Iowa. |
| 1846-1847 | The Sac & Fox moved from Iowa to a reservation in Kansas. |
| 1859 | The Kansas reservation was divided into individual 80-acre allotments under the terms of the treaty with the Sac & Fox of the Mississippi. |
| 1867 | A treaty provided for the sale of remaining surplus Sac & Fox lands in Kansas and for removal to Indian Territory. |
| 1870s | Sac & Fox families moved into Indian Territory. Their reservation was located in central Indian Territory in the area of present-day Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties. |
| 1870s-1880s | The Sac & Fox Agency administered federal affairs and generated census, payment, school, land, and other records that are valuable to genealogists. |
| 1888-1899 | Sac & Fox and Shawnee Agency per-capita payment rolls were created. These records can help place individuals within families and communities. |
| 1891 | The Sac & Fox Reservation was allotted and surplus lands were opened to non-Indian settlement. The Sac & Fox Opening occurred on September 22, 1891. |
| 1891-1898 | Federal census records were created for the Sac & Fox at the Sac & Fox Agency in Oklahoma. |
| 1900s-1930s | Continuing Indian census records, children's census records, school records, payment records, births, deaths, and marriages provide important genealogical evidence. |
| 1936 | The Sac & Fox Nation adopted a new constitution and reorganized its government under federal law. |
| Today | The Sac & Fox Nation is headquartered near Stroud, Oklahoma, with its community centered in the historic reservation area. |
The name "Sac & Fox" can be confusing when researching family history. The Sauk called themselves Thakiwaki, while the Fox called themselves Meskwaki. The two peoples were brought together in federal treaty terminology, but they did not become a single people. The Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma identifies primarily with the Sauk heritage. The Meskwaki followed a different historical path and established the Meskwaki Settlement in Iowa. Because federal records frequently used "Sac & Fox" as a combined designation, however, genealogists should search for both the tribal designation and the particular agency or reservation where an ancestor lived.
The Sauk homeland was in the western Great Lakes region. Through a series of conflicts, treaties, and population movements, Sauk communities moved westward into the Illinois and Mississippi River region. During the early nineteenth century the Sac & Fox became increasingly involved in U.S. treaty negotiations and land cessions. The Black Hawk War of 1832 is one of the best-known episodes in this period. Afterward, federal pressure continued to move the Sac & Fox farther west. For genealogists, this means that an Oklahoma Sac & Fox ancestor may have an earlier record trail through Illinois or Iowa. Records may identify the family by a location, village, agency, or treaty designation rather than by the modern name of the Oklahoma nation.
Following their removal from Iowa, the Sac & Fox established a reservation in Kansas. Federal records from the Kansas period are particularly important because many families who later moved to Indian Territory appear in both Kansas and Oklahoma records. The Oklahoma Historical Society's American Indian census collection includes Sac & Fox records from Kansas, including the Sac & Fox Agency in Kansas and the Potawatomi and Great Nemaha Agency. Some federal records also contain Sac & Fox individuals who were attending schools or living within the jurisdiction of other Kansas agencies.
Do not assume that an Oklahoma Sac & Fox ancestor will appear only in Oklahoma records. Kansas agency records can provide the missing generation or identify a family before its move to Indian Territory.
The 1867 treaty provided for the sale of remaining Sac & Fox lands in Kansas and the movement of the Sac & Fox to Indian Territory. During the 1870s, Sac & Fox families established themselves in central Indian Territory. The historic reservation occupied a large area in what is now central Oklahoma. The present Sac & Fox community is centered around the area near Stroud, with families also living in surrounding communities including Prague, Cushing, and Shawnee. The former reservation became especially important for genealogy because federal agents maintained recurring census and administrative records for Sac & Fox families living there.
The Sac & Fox Agency is one of the most important places to look for Oklahoma Sac & Fox genealogy. Agency records may contain information about individual families, payments, land, education, health, births, deaths, marriages, and other interactions between tribal citizens and the federal government. The National Archives identifies Sac & Fox Agency records in Indian Territory from 1869-1929, while the Oklahoma Historical Society holds a substantial collection of Sac & Fox Agency records dating from 1849-1922. Records associated with the Shawnee Agency can also be important for later Sac & Fox research. The National Archives identifies Sac & Fox census, birth, death, and marriage records under the Shawnee Agency during the twentieth century.
Sac & Fox genealogy can be especially rewarding because the surviving federal records are extensive. Begin with the most recent known ancestor and work backward, comparing several records rather than relying on a single census entry.
Indian census rolls are among the most useful records for reconstructing Sac & Fox families. The Oklahoma Historical Society collection includes numerous Sac & Fox censuses beginning with nineteenth-century records and continuing into the twentieth century. Oklahoma Sac & Fox Agency census records include 1891-1898, 1895, 1899-1904, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905-1919, 1910, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1921, and 1922. Later Sac & Fox records appear under the Shawnee Agency, including censuses from the 1920s and 1930s. These records may identify individuals by household, age, relationship, family number, tribal affiliation, and other information. Comparing several consecutive years can help identify children, marriages, deaths, and changes in household structure.
Payment records can be valuable when a census entry is difficult to interpret. The Oklahoma Historical Society has Sac & Fox and Shawnee Agency per-capita payment rolls covering periods from 1853 through 1916. Payment rolls may help establish that an individual was living with the community at a particular time and can provide another way to connect a person with relatives.
A specialized Census of Sac & Fox Children covering 1908-1926 is available through the Oklahoma Historical Society. School-age children may therefore appear in records that provide information not easily found in the regular annual census.
Later federal Indian census records include separate birth, death, and marriage records. National Archives microfilm includes Sac & Fox births from 1924-1938, deaths from 1924-1938, and a 1935 marriage census. These records can be particularly useful for connecting parents and children when civil registration records are incomplete.
Allotment records are essential for families who lived on the Sac & Fox Reservation during the period surrounding Oklahoma statehood. The 1891 agreement resulted in the allotment of the Sac & Fox Reservation to individual tribal members, while surplus lands were opened to non-Indian settlement. An allotment file may provide information about an individual's residence, family, land, heirs, and later ownership. Land records can also help determine exactly where a family lived. Once an allotment is identified, county deeds, probate records, tax records, and later land transactions may extend the family history into the twentieth century.
School records should not be overlooked. The Sac & Fox Agency maintained educational programs, and later records may place children in schools away from their immediate community. Federal records also include Sac & Fox students within the jurisdiction of schools and agencies in Kansas. A child may therefore appear in a school census or educational record even when the parents are found in an Oklahoma agency census.
One of the best-known people associated with the Sac & Fox Nation is athlete Jim Thorpe. Thorpe was born in 1888 on the Sac & Fox reservation near present-day Prague, Oklahoma, and his ancestry included Sac & Fox, Potawatomi, Menominee, and Kickapoo connections. His life is a useful reminder that Native genealogy often crosses tribal and geographic boundaries. When researching a Sac & Fox family, investigate neighboring nations and communities when the evidence indicates that relatives came from another tribal or reservation population.
For an Oklahoma Sac & Fox ancestor, begin with the county where the family lived and then work backward through federal agency records. Remember that county boundaries and town names changed after the opening of the reservation to non-Indian settlement. A family may have remained in the same general location while the surrounding county or community changed.
Kansas research is often essential for Sac & Fox families who moved to Indian Territory during the 1860s and 1870s. Search the Sac & Fox Agency in Kansas, the Potawatomi and Great Nemaha Agency, school records, Kansas census records, land records, newspapers, and county records. A Kansas record may provide a name, age, spouse, parent, or previous residence that allows you to identify the same person in Oklahoma.
For families who lived with the Sac & Fox before their removal to Kansas, research should extend into Iowa and Illinois. Look for treaty-related records, federal correspondence, agency records, local land records, newspapers, church records, and censuses. Because the historical federal designation "Sac & Fox" was used broadly, read the record carefully to determine whether it refers to the Sauk or Meskwaki population.
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