CHAPTER 6 THE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL ARCHIVES: IMPORTANT RECORDS RELATED TO INDIAN AND NON-INDIAN MINING ACTIVITIES AND WATER RIGHTS
| Jurisdiction | United States |
(Jan 1996)
THE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL ARCHIVES: IMPORTANT RECORDS RELATED TO INDIAN AND NON-INDIAN MINING ACTIVITIES AND WATER RIGHTS
Nicklason Research Associates
Washington, D.C.
INTRODUCTION
It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the National Archives and Records Administration and how one makes use of the system including the types of records available to natural resource professionals, the kinds of information which they contain and some of the "nuts and bolts" of the retrieval process. It is not a comprehensive guide but a discussion of the most important record groups and records series gained from over twenty-three years of almost daily research in National Archives files. While thorough and efficient primary research within the National Archives records system can only result from years of training and actual research experience it is the intent of this paper to provide the beginning natural resource investigator with the basic knowledge required to enter the complex world of federal records research in the National Archives system.
For professionals working in the field of natural resource litigation, the National Archives and Records Administration is the nation's most important repository of primary or unpublished natural resource documents. Contained within its unmatched holdings are documents that not only describe the natural resource landscape at the dawn of westward expansion but also detail the history of the federal government's management (including exploration, development and conservation) of many valuable resources such as water, coal, oil and gas and other mineral resources. If properly uncovered, the evidentiary record that can be compiled from the data and information contained within NARA's natural resource records can often be the difference between success or failure in natural resource litigation.
MAKING USE OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
In 1934, the National Archives, now officially known as the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), was established as a depository for the records of the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches of the federal government. More than sixty years later, NARA continues to administer the permanent noncurrent records of the Federal Government by preserving current holdings, acquiring or accessioning new federal government records while making them available to the general public for research use.
NARA's records are housed in three Washington D.C., area facilities and twelve regional Federal Archives and Records
[Page 6-2]
Centers. The records diaspora and the problem that it creates —figuring out where records are actually stored—is the first major hurdle confronting first time or even experienced researchers.
The three facilities in the Washington, D.C., area that for the most part house the central office records of the federal government concerning natural resources include the original downtown National Archives Building (recently renamed Archives I); the newly constructed state of the art facility in College Park, Maryland (Archives II); and the Washington Records National Records Center, located in Suitland, Maryland.
Creating additional confusion for the natural resources researcher trying to locate records in the NARA system is the fact that, while some natural resource record groups—including the United States Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines—are housed at Archives II in College Park, Maryland, others, like the records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, are located at the Archives I facility. In addition, some record groups are currently divided between facilities. For example, the records of the United States General Land Office are now split between the Archives I facility and the NARA branch at the Washington National Records Center (Suitland, Maryland). Even more frustrating, the pre-1945 central office records of the United States Bureau of Reclamation, including both the General Administrative and Project Records, that contain information of vital interest to western water rights researchers, were just recently moved from Archives I (Washington, D.C) to Archives II (Suitland, Maryland) and are currently scheduled for removal to NARA's Rocky Mountain regional branch in Denver, Colorado.
The beginning researcher's first major obstacle to overcome is not only to determine specific records of interest but also to identify where they are presently housed within the Washington, D.C., NARA system. That question can be answered by NARA's Public Information Office located in the Archives I building. In addition, archivists assigned to the Textual Reference Branch, Archives I and II can provide records location information. Furthermore, NARA archivists can also provide the natural resource researcher with the necessary information—finding aids and published inventories—required to locate specific records series within each record group at each records facility.
NARA's eleven regional offices as well as the geographic areas they serve include the following:
New England Region
Waltham, Massachusetts
(Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island)
Northeast Region
Bayonne, New Jersey
[Page 6-3]
(New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands)
Mid-Atlantic Region
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia)
Southeast Region
East Point, Georgia
(Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee)
Great Lakes Region
Chicago, Illinois
(Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin)
Central Plains Region
Kansas City, Missouri
(Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska
Southwest Region
Fort Worth, Texas
(Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas)
Rocky Mountain Region
Denver, Colorado
(Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming)
Pacific Southwest Region
Laguna Niguel, California
(Arizona; southern California counties of Imperial Bay, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura; and Clark County, Nevada)
Pacific Sierra Region
San Bruno, California
(Northern California, Hawaii, Nevada except Clark County and the Pacific Ocean area)
Pacific Northwest Region
Seattle, Washington
(Idaho, Oregon and Washington)
Alaska Region
Anchorage, Alaska
(Alaska)
NARA's regional branches contain the permanently accessioned field office records of the federal government. For the most part, these materials are composed of copies of correspondence, reports and other records sent to the Washington, D.C., central offices as well as correspondence, reports and other records sent to and received from individuals and institutions outside the federal
[Page 6-4]
government that were not forwarded on to the Washington, D.C. central offices. Because of the more recent historical development of the regional federal bureaucracy, the bulk of the field records relate to the twentieth century after 1930. A few of these records series, however, can contain very old materials. For example, some Indian Office field records relating to both Indian and non-Indian irrigation farming go back to the mid-19th century. As in the case of the Washington, D. C., NARA system, archivists working in the various regional branches will provide the researcher with information concerning the general nature and quantity of regional record holdings.
GETTING STARTED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
Once the geographic location of the relevant NARA facility in the Washington, D.C., area has been determined, the next task confronting the natural resources researcher at all NARA facilities will be to identify specific series of records within a given record group. This seemingly complicated task is accomplished in two different ways.
The researcher should first begin the quest for relevant records series by reviewing the 1974 edition of the Guide to the National Archives of the United States, which serves as a general guide to the mountain of records maintained by NARA. Organized by government departments and agencies, this guide is a helpful way to identify groups of records that might contain materials of interest to the natural resources researcher. The new National Archives guide, due out in early 1996, will update the 1974 edition and contain histories of the agencies that should make it much easier for all researchers to identify relevant record groups.
The next step in the research process is to identify relevant records series within each record group. This is achieved by reviewing archives finding aids known as the preliminary inventories. These inventories generally contain an introduction that briefly states the history and function of the agency and its records. The records are then described by records series which are units of records dealing with the same subject matter or activity. These finding aids, were titled "preliminary" because they are only provisional in nature and were originally primarily intended for staff use.
Available for review in the Textual Reference Branch offices at both Archives I and Archives II, the preliminary inventories do contain several short comings. First and foremost, the preliminary inventories are not necessarily a comprehensive finding aid. Some contain omissions and, of course, none will describe records series that NARA received after publication. In addition, some preliminary inventories contain errors and the style in which they are written, and the imperfect way in which the records are arranged coupled with the complex nature of the federal bureaucracy often make them
[Page 6-5]
difficult to understand. The preliminary inventories can also make for laborious reading because most were prepared soon after the records were received, and as a result contain descriptions of records of marginal value...
To continue reading
Request your trial