Preservation of the nation's Indian records is recog nized as a task of national importance. Public access to government documents and data is now possible at ten regional records centers across the country. The material stored provides detailed and analytic accounts of daily activity and business at Indian agencies. The nature and content of the data relevant to Plains Indian agencies is described in this paper. Most plains ethnographers have frequently consulted the Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for first hand descriptions of agen cy life in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These reports are not only all too brief, but also reflect observations carefully constructed for Congress and the public. A specific situation re veals some striking contradictions because of dif ferent viewpoints. In 1868, an agent for the Low er Brule writes: "The general behavior and dis position of these Indians to labor are very cheer ing. There is no band in the Sioux nation under my charge that has done so well, or that deserves more generous treatment from the government." A year later the Commander of the Military Dis trict describes them: "The Lower Brule . . . acknowledge no chief; are perfect Ismaelites, wandering in small bands thousands of miles over the prairies; are treacherous beyond all other Sioux, and commit most of the rascalities which occur in this district." In order to clarify such conflicting accounts, serious historians have searched for further documentation, consulting the National Archives and the records section of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. These centers con tain well-kept files of letters received and sent by the Office of Indian Affairs, later the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In addition, the record group within the Bur eau of Indian Affairs includes materials from: field offices; the Office of Indian Trade, 1795 to 1822; the Board of Indian Commissioners, 1869 to 1933; and Indian Arts and Crafts, established in 1936. A portion of early 19th century corres pondence from the Secretary of War is also avail able at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but most of the relevant War Department letters are in the National Archives. The National Archives further include: correspondence and accounts of the Of fice of Indian Trade; Bureau of Indian Affairs records between 1824 and 1967 with related registers, indexes and abstracts; accounts of lands, disbursements, procurements, census rolls and per capita payments; rosters of field person nel; and numerous special files. Narrative reports of agents, field superintendents and other offi cials generally are more valuable for ethnohistory while the records of peace, treaty, and special commissions interest the historian. The archives house the majority of the records for the Board of Indian Commissioners. Data from the National Archives are particularly useful because of an eight volume, fully indexed work, the Biograph ical and Historical Index of American Indians and Persons Involved in Indian Affairs, published by the G. K. Hall Company. Furthermore, the archives store maps, photographs and even some motion pictures. Although there is quantity and variety of in formation, its usefulness is frequently offset by several factors. A strict adherence to formality is an example. A mundane requisition or a repri mand invariably began, "I have the honor to herewith . . ." Furthermore, most personnel in the field quickly learned what answers their supe riors wanted, and provided them. Correspon dence is highly stylized, and it would appear that a safe practice was to report as little as possible, or avoid certain topics. Official letters to the Commissioner are filled with references to cattle, mosquitoes, heat, storms and blizzards; in many letters agents never mention Indians. Officials re vealed much more of themselves and the conduct of their agencies when they wrote elsewhere.