Record Atlas
5 eras · 1818–2026 · 20 places

Oregon — Oregon Country, Provisional Government, Territory and State

Portland, Salem, Eugene, Oregon City, Astoria, Pendleton, Medford. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1818–1843 Oregon Country — joint British and American occupation FamilySearch

An 1818 arrangement gave Britain and the United States shared access to the region. The Hudson's Bay Company had almost complete control after its 1821 merger with the North West Company and made Fort Vancouver its headquarters from 1825.
1843–1846 Oregon Country — joint occupation, settlers' Provisional Government FamilySearch

The Provisional Government of Oregon ran from 1843 to 1849, during the last years of joint occupation.
1846–1848 Oregon Treaty — Provisional Government of Oregon FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA)

The Oregon Treaty of June 15, 1846 settled the boundary with Britain, with the Oregon Country divided along the 49th parallel. The Provisional Government continued until 1849.
1848–1859 Oregon Territory FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Congress created Oregon Territory in 1848 (14 August 1848; some sources give 1846). It covered present Idaho, Oregon and Washington and the parts of Montana and Wyoming west of the Continental Divide until Washington Territory was split off on March 2, 1853. The Donation Land Claim Act dates from 1850.
1859–2026 United States — State of Oregon FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Oregon was admitted as a state on February 14, 1859 within its present boundaries. Statewide birth and death registration began under a 1903 law, though some counties began registering as early as 1845.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1818–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

20 places on this ground

1742 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 1682 more.

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