Register of letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs

The Bureau of Indian Affairs was established within the War Department on March 11, 1824, by order of Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. The Bureau operated informally within the War Department from 1824 to 1832, when an act (4 Stat. 564) authorized the appointment of a Commissioner of Indian Affairs to direct and manage, under the supervision of the Secretary of War, all matters arising from relations with the Indians. An 1849 act (9 Stat. 395) transferred the Bureau from the War Department to the newly established Department of the Interior, where it has since remained. Although Secretary Calhoun used the term "Bureau" in his order, the name "Office of Indian Affairs" soon became common usage. The name "Bureau of Indian Affairs" was not formally adopted until 1947.