In a message dated 7/3/98 9:13:48 AM Central Daylight Time, mcollins@sfths.sft434.k12.ks.us writes: << GenTips-L@rootsweb.com >> I just listened to a tape about searching for midwestern Indian ancestry saying that the Native Americans from abt 1885 on were among the best documented of all Americans in the time period. (Of course, there are exceptions in all cases, but it is still heartening to know.) There are a lot of Indian tribes, so that the Indian connection may not be Cherokee, hence not on the Dawes rolls. There are quite a few Native American Censuses, available from the National Archives--probably also obtainable from Heritage Quest (formerly AGLL) or from the Family History Center. Baptist records for birth records tend to be non-existant as they don't baptize babies or very young children, waiting until they reach an age of accountability. This may be the conversion spoken of, or it may be that they came from another faith, or a non-faith to the Baptist Church. (Only more research will identify that for sure.) I'd start checking indexes for all of the years you haven't previously found your missing links, and begin looking at each family with the same surname (& variant spellings--be creative, their spellings frequently were), and all associated surnames. It may take quite awhile to look for all of the families, but you may be able to locate them this way. To make it easier, begin with the counties you KNOW they lived in, and branch out from there. (It increases the probability of finding them.) Land records in the areas you have definitely found them in sometimes will indicate the former residence of a person when buying land in a new area (not always). Land records can usually be gotten through LDS FHC, depending on the area. Good luck finding the family. Karen