ABSTRACT
Secretary of War Henry Knox was placed in charge of Indian matters in 1786, and he continued to formulate and carry out Indian policy under President Washington. In 1796 government trading houses for Indians were established under the direction of the president, but they were discontinued in 1822. Territorial governors often served as ex officio superintendents of Indian territory and Indian matters with the hope that in this way they could help coordinate contacts between the frontiersmen and the original inhabitants. The military was important in regard to Indian relations throughout most of the nineteenth century, but, as might be expected, the relations between civilian agents and army officers were often strained. Prior to 1976 the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was under an assistant secretary in the Interior Department whose responsibilities covered territories, Indians, and other land management activities. Giving Indians preferences in employment in the BIA was prescribed by the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.
