Indian War Bounty Land records

By mbcross on Wed, 06/10/2026 - 10:46

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I am looking at this citation and questioning whether I have left anything out. I have the name of the document being cited and the access layer, but I am questioning whether to include the full file name (Bounty Land Warrant Application File for Pah-Me-Tah (Pah-Metak)). I realize this is the name NARA has assigned to the this file, but it does appear to be a correct description of the file.

Heir’s Brief for Minor Child (Ah-Coff, born 1841) of Pah-Metak/Pah-Me-Tak (Pvt., Black Hawk War), filed 13 April 1878, Service with Captain Johnson's Company of Col. Stambough's command of Menominee Indians in the Black Hawk War; imaged, “Bounty Land Warrant Application Files of Indians Based on Service Between 1812 and 1855, ca. 1812—ca. 1900,” National Archives (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/645043842?objectPage=3).

Submitted byEEon Wed, 06/10/2026 - 15:00

mbcross, the standard format would be this:

Heir’s Brief for Minor Child Ah-Coff,13 April 1878, Bounty Application File for Pah-Metak/Pah-Me-Tak (Pvt., Captain Johnson's Co., Col. Stambough's command of Menominee Indians, Black Hawk War); imaged, “Bounty Land Warrant Application Files of Indians Based on Service Between 1812 and 1855, ca. 1812—ca. 1900,” National Archives (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/645043842?objectPage=3); citing Record Group 15: Department of Veterans Affairs.

Explanations:

  • When citing a document in an archival collection, we start with the smallest unit and give its name, date, and any other relevant detail before moving up to the next level. You show the date after the name of the file, which implies that the date is for the whole file. The date of the document needs to follow the ID of the document before moving on to the next level of the archival heirarchy. (EE4 §5.3, 12.2
  • After the identity of the document, we state the file in which it appears. With a bounty-land or pension application that calls for stating the applicant's name and the type of the application.
  • All information identifying the service of the applicant is placed in the parentheses after the name of the applicant.
  • With documents that are imaged online, we finish the citation with a "location" layer, to report the website's information about where that record is found.

Template 8 (EE4 or Stripped Bare) would be the appropriate template. Bounty-land application files are further discussed at EE4 §12.23.