Record Atlas
6 eras · 1818–2026 · 88 places

Washington and Idaho — Oregon Country to territories and statehood

Seattle, Olympia, Spokane, Walla Walla, Vancouver WA, Boise, Lewiston. 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
1818–1846 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.
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 of Oregon continued until 1849.
1848–1853 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.
1853–1863 Washington Territory FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Washington Territory was created on March 2, 1853 and at its largest included all of present Idaho.
1863–1889 Washington Territory and Idaho Territory FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Idaho Territory was created on March 3 or 4, 1863 (dated differently by source), which gave Washington Territory its present boundaries.
1889–2026 United States — State of Washington and State of Idaho FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Washington became a state on November 11, 1889; Idaho followed on July 3, 1890, so Idaho records of 1889-90 are still territorial. Statewide death registration began in Washington in 1907 and in Idaho in 1911 (county-level registration is sometimes dated 1907 for Idaho).

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.

88 places on this ground

1856 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 1796 more.

All record regions · The map