Transfer of Melvin L. Robertson, superintendent of the Western Washington Indian Agency, Everett, Wash., on July 14 to the comparable position at the Menominee Agency, Keshena, Wis., was announced today by Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs W. Barton Greenwood.
Robertson replaces Raymond H. Bitney who moves to the position of assistant director in the Bureau's area office at Anadarko, Okla.
Mr. Robertson was born at Kalispell, Mont., in 1900 and has had 26 years of continuous service with the Bureau. From 1928 to 1948 he served in various capacities from timber scaler to forest ranger at the Colville Agency, Nespelem, Wash., and the Klamath Agency in Oregon. In 1948 he was named assistant to the superintendent of the California Agency at Sacramento, Calif., and later was made district agent at the Hoopa Subagency at Hoopa, Calif. He was appointed superintendent at Northern Idaho in 1950 and transferred to Western Washington in May 1954.
Mr. Bitney joined the Bureau in 1926 as forest assistant at the Klamath Agency, Oreg., and in 1930 was promoted to the superintendency of Neah Bay Agency, Wash. When this agency was abolished in 1933 he served for six years as superintendent at Red Lake Agency, Red Lake, Minn. In 1939 he was transferred to the Taholah Agency, Taholah, Wash. From 1942 to 1946 he was in military service and spent 15 months overseas as Battalion Commander of the 796th Engineer Forestry Battalion. After returning to the Bureau in 1946 he was superintendent for two years at Red Lake, two years at Klamath, and tour at Western Washington before going to Menominee in spring of 1954.
A successor to Mr. Robertson at Western Washington has not been named.
