PBK said:
The buttons were actually produced for the Indian Department by the Waterbury Button Co., who listed "U.S. Indian Department" among their backmark dies for the period of 1875-1935. Exactly where these buttons fall within that time frame, I'm not sure.
I believe that Montana Jim has dug a number of these, so he may be able to offer more detailed information about them.
I have dug a few of those... and my partner Wingman Tony has dug three.
There were two styles of Indian Police buttons... your's being the older style.
Here is some interesting additional information:
Indian police and judges helped to preserve law and order, and assisted with other principal agency tasks.
In 1878 Congress authorized police units to fill the power vacuum created by the withdrawal of military troops from the West and the weakened authority of tribal chiefs. What began as an experiment blossomed within three years into a system that operated on forty-nine reservations and included eighty-four commissioned officers and 786 non-commissioned officers and privates. "The question has been asked whether these policemen can be depended upon," reported Commissioner of Indian Affairs Thomas J. Morgan in 1890:
To the Indian Office, a disciplined and well-trained police force also served as a "perpetual educator" for fellow Natives who would walk the white man’s road.
Indeed, a button on the police uniform depicted an Indian plowing and surrounded by the words: "God helps those who help themselves." Another weapon in the federal government’s acculturation arsenal was the courts of Indian offenses established by the Interior Department in the early 1880s. In less than a decade, ninety-three Native judges staffed courts at twenty-eight agencies. They enforced Indian Office rules that forbid the sun dance, scalp and war dances, polygamy, and various practices of medicine men. The courts also heard cases against Indians charged with theft, destruction of property, drunkenness, and trafficking in intoxicating liquors.
That is an awesome find... I've been told while you may never see another one here (unless I find it) 8) that they are not necessarily rare and are available in button collecting circles. I will tell you they are hardly ever found dug, and I think you have a fantastic button!
Somehow it made it's way back to Ohio from the west here... Montana, Wyoming, etc...
