Nevada Emigration and Immigration
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How to Find the Records
Online Records
- 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 Nevada
- 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Nevada
- 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Nevada
- Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Nevada
- Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Nevada
- Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Nevada
Passport Records Online
- 1795-1925 - United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1795-1925 - U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 Index and images, at Ancestry ($)
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-California Trails Association
Oregon-California Trails Association is an educational organization that promotes the story of the westward migration to Nevada, 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.
- Search the Paper Trail Database Initial searches are FREE! You can go to the "Search" tab now to begin. These free searches will tell you if a name or document is in the database. It will give you the origin and year of the journey, how the person was mentioned, the name of the party, and the name and author of the document described. Subscriptions give you more complete information including a scan of the original survey. This lists the route taken, ages, and other notes about the document. But most importantly, you will have access to the location of known copies of the original document.
Background
- By 1826, American fur traders and trappers were in the area.
- During the 1840's, emigrant wagons passed through the Humboldt and Truckee River valleys on the way to California.
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- In 1849, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made the first non-Indian settlement in Nevada at Mormon Station, now Genoa. Settlers from Salt Lake City also colonized southern Nevada, such as the Las Vegas area, in the 1850's. Most of these settlers were called back to central Utah in 1857, but new efforts at colonization were under way in southern Nevada by the mid-1860's.
In 1859 the Comstock gold and silver deposits were discovered in the Carson Valley. Thousands of Cornish, Irish, and other miners came from California and established the boom town of Virginia City. By 1870, the census records listed over 40 percent of all Nevada residents as having come from Britain, Germany, Ireland, China, and Canada.
After 1880, Italians came in large numbers to Nevada. They were the largest immigrant group reported in the 1910 census, numbering nearly 3,000. German, English, Irish, and Greek immigrants were also major groups within the total 1910 population of just over 80,000. There have also been small numbers of Mexicans and Blacks in the state since the days of the early mining camps.
More recent immigrants to Nevada have included Basque sheepherders from the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain and France. Today it is estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 Nevadans are of Basque descent. Helpful information on Basque settlement in Nevada is in Flavina Maria McCullough, The Basques in the Northwest: A Dissertation, 1945, Reprint (San Francisco, California: R and E Research Associates, 1974); Family History Library film 940048 item 4.
Descendants of the original inhabitants— the Paiute, Shoshoni, and Washo Indians— live on small reservations scattered through the state. A few records of American Indians are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under NEVADA - NATIVE RACES. Others are listed in the subject section of the FamilySearch Catalog under the names of the tribes.
Books on Blacks, Chinese, and Yugoslavs in nineteenth-century Nevada are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog subject section under NEVADA - MINORITIES.
For Further reading
References
- Nevada Research Outline. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1998, 2001. (NOTE: All of the information from the original research article has been imported into this Wiki site and is being updated as time permits.)