The Oregon Archives Division recently launched an online database of the earliest Oregonians, even dating back to before statehood in 1859.
The Early Oregonians Project draws from census records, marriage licenses, death certificates and other documents to offer information about the area's earliest settlers. Much of the information provides a glimpse of the residents who lived and died in Oregon between 1800 and 1860.
The database is searchable by name, date or county.
Currently there are over 105,500 entries representing these ‘Early Oregonians.’ Because of limits on available records and documentation, the project can only realistically be defined to include people living in Oregon from 1800 to 1860, despite the fact that large populations of Native Americans lived in the Oregon Country prior to 1840. Documentation of our earliest Natives is scant and not readily available. It wasn’t until the first federal decennial census in 1860, that any Native Americans were identified. However, instructions to the census enumerators limited how Natives were to be counted:
“Indians not taxed are not to be enumerated. The families of Indians who have renounced tribal rule, and who under state or territory laws exercise the rights of citizens, are to be enumerated.”
The first use of the term “Indian” doesn’t appear until the 1870 census when it became a choice in the column heading for “color.” Neither the 1850 or 1860 census for Oregon included significant numbers of Native Americans. In compiling profiles for this project, staff encountered many mixed race individuals identified as “mulatto.” In most instances these designations were changed to “Indian” unless evidence clearly indicates the individual was of mixed African American descent. Another designation that appears with some frequency is “HB” apparently indicating “half-breed.” There are many inconsistencies in the censuses over time for individuals of mixed Native American descent. Staff relied on the preponderance of evidence to determine race in these cases.
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