Oregon Emigration and Immigration

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U.S. Emigration and Immigration

Oregon

Emigration and Immigration

United States Immigration Online Genealogy Records

How to Find the Records

Online Resources

• 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); Also at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Oregon
• 1882-1903 Portland, Oregon, Chinese Immigrant Case files, 1882-1903 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
• 1888-1956 Oregon Passenger and Crew Lists, 1888-1956 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1888-1963 Oregon, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1888-1963 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
• 1895-1954 Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1954 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
• 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Oregon
• 1895-1964 All U.S., Border Crossings from Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964 at Ancestry; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Oregon
• 1949-1955 Oregon, Portland, Index and Register of Vessels, 1949-1955 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images

Cultural Groups

• 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Oregon
• Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Oregon
• Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Oregon
• Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Oregon
• Paper Trail, index

Passport Records Online

• 1795-1925 - United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1795-1925 - U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 Index and images, at Ancestry ($)

Offices to Contact

Although many records are included in the online records listed above, there are other records available through these archives and offices. For example, there are many minor ports that have not yet been digitized. There are also records for more recent time periods. For privacy reasons, some records can only be accessed after providing proof that your ancestor is now deceased.

National Archives and Records Administration

• The National Archives (NARA) has immigration records for arrivals to the United States from foreign ports between approximately 1820 and 1982. The records are arranged by Port of Arrival (See Part 5).

• You may do research in immigration records in person at the National Archives Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001.

• Some National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regional facilities have selected immigration records; call to verify their availability or check the online Microfilm Catalog.
• Libraries with large genealogical collections, such as the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Allen County Piblic Library also have selected NARA microfilm publications.

• Order copies of passenger arrival records with NATF Form 81.

Oregon Ports in NARA Records

• Astoria, Oregon, 1888-1956
• Beaver, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon
• Bradwood, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon
• Breland [Bretland?], Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon
• Coos Bay, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon
• Grays Harbor, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon
• Marshfield, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon
• Newport, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon
• Portland, Oregon, 1888-1956
• Warrenton, Oregon, 1888-1956, see Astoria, Oregon

U.S. Citizenship and and Immigration Services Genealogy Program

The USCIS Genealogy Program is a fee-for-service program that provides researchers with timely access to historical immigration and naturalization records of deceased immigrants. If the immigrant was born less than 100 years ago, you will also need to provide proof of his/her death.

Immigration Records Available

• A-Files: Immigrant Files, (A-Files) are the individual alien case files, which became the official file for all immigration records created or consolidated since April 1, 1944.
• Alien Registration Forms (AR-2s): Alien Registration Forms (Form AR-2) are copies of approximately 5.5 million Alien Registration Forms completed by all aliens age 14 and older, residing in or entering the United States between August 1, 1940 and March 31, 1944.
• Registry Files: Registry Files are records, which document the creation of immigrant arrival records for persons who entered the United States prior to July 1, 1924, and for whom no arrival record could later be found.
• Visa Files: Visa Files are original arrival records of immigrants admitted for permanent residence under provisions of the Immigration Act of 1924.

Requesting a Record

• Web Request Page allows you to request a records, pay fees, and upload supporting documents (proof of death).
• Record Requests Frequently Asked Questions

Oregon-California Trails Association

Oregon-California Trails Association is an educational organization that promotes the story of the westward migration to Oregon, among other places. Their site includes a personal name index to trail diaries, journals, reminiscences, autobiographies, newspaper articles, guidebooks and letters at A Guide to Overland Pioneer Names and Documents.

Finding Town of Origin

Records in the countries emigrated from are kept on the local level. You must first identify the name of the town where your ancestors lived to access those records. If you do not yet know the name of the town of your ancestor's birth, there are well-known strategies for a thorough hunt for it.

• U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin

Background

• Early 1800s, traders and trappers came into the area from Canada, Russia, Latin America and the United States.
• 1830s and 1840s, other settlements were created in the Willamette River valley. These settlers generally came from Midwestern and eastern states, Canada and Russia.
• 1843, over 900 more Americans arrived, mostly from Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.
• The Oregon Donation Act of 1850 guaranteed free land to those who settled and cultivated the land before 1 December 1855. 7,437 patents were issued before the expiration of the Act.
• New settlers surged into the Oregon Territory, primarily from the Mississippi River valley, the Midwest and the South.
• Foreign-born immigrants came mainly from Canada, Germany, Scandinavia, England and Russia.
• Later immigrants came from China, Japan, the Philippines and Latin America.

African Americans

Nokes, R. Gregory. Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trail in the Oregon Territory. Oregon State University Press. c. 2013 WorldCat

Immigration Records

Immigration refers to people coming into a country. Emigration refers to people leaving a country to go to another. Immigration records usually take the form of ship's passenger lists collected at the port of entry. See Online Resources.

What can I find in them?

Information in Passenger Lists

• Before 1820 - Passenger lists before 1820 included name, departure information and arrival details. The names of wives and children were often not included.

• 1820-1891 - Customs Passenger Lists between 1820 and 1891 asked for each immigrant’s name, their age, their sex, their occupation, and their country of origin, but not the city or town of origin.

• 1891-1954 - Information given on passenger lists from 1891 to 1954 included:
  • name, age, sex,
  • nationality, occupation, marital status,
  • last residence, final destination in the U.S.,
  • whether they had been to the U.S. before (and if so, when, where and how long),
  • if joining a relative, who this person was, where they lived, and their relationship,
  • whether able to read and write,
  • whether in possession of a train ticket to their final destination, who paid for the passage,
  • amount of money the immigrant had in their possession,
  • whether the passenger had ever been in prison, a poorhouse, or in an institution for the insane,
  • whether the passenger was a polygamist,
  • and immigrant's state of health.

• 1906-- - In 1906, the physical description and place of birth were included, and a year later, the name and address of the passenger’s closest living relative in the country of origin was included.

Information in Passports

Over the years, passports and passport applications contained different amounts of information about the passport applicant. The first passports that are available begin in 1795. These usually contained the individual's name, description of individual, and age. More information was required on later passport applications, such as:

• Birthplace
• Birth date
• Naturalization information
• Arrival information, if foreign born

In-country Migration

• 1853 Routes to California and Oregon in the Hayward's United States Gazetteer.

Oregon Migration Routes

Oregon Trail · California Trail · Applegate Trail · Meek Cutoff · Whitman Mission Route · Barlow Road · Klamath Trail · Free Emigrant Road · Upper Columbia River Route · Nez Perce Trail · Lewis and Clark Trail · Santiam Wagon Road · Siskiyou Trail · Thomas and Ruckle Road · York Factory Express · Willamette Valley · Blue Mountain Pass · Rogue River Valley · Great Northern Railway (U.S.) · Union Pacific Railroad · Northern Pacific Railway · Oregon Short Line Railroad · Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company · Southern Pacific Railroad · Columbia Southern Railway · Oregon Trunk Railroad

For Further Reading

This heading will contain any other publications/websites, etc. that may be relevant to researching/understanding immigration and emigration for this country.

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