Clackamas County, Oregon
This Site is part of

The ORGenWeb and The USGenWeb®

My name is Martha and I will be your guide to all things "Clackamas County".
I do not live in Oregon,
but have family that lived in various parts of the State for many years.
l will do my best to answer questions and perhaps assist in locating that
 missing piece of your 'Ancestral Pie'.
I can be contacted by email. Please use this link

Table of contents
Maps ~ Biographies ~ Books ~ Oregon Pioneers ~ What's New ~ Miscellaneous
Military ~ Vital Records ~ Obituaries
Family Search ~ Cemeteries ~ Newspapers & Lookups

Search Clackamas County

Maps ~ Biographies ~ Books ~ Oregon Pioneers ~ What's New ~ Miscellaneous

Clackamas County Neighbors
Hood River ~ Marion
Multnomah ~ Wasco Washington ~ Yamhill

History of Clackamas County

Oregon City became the county seat for Clackamas County. The city was built on a portion of Dr. John McLoughlin's land claim. In 1844 Oregon City was incorporated by the Provisional Legislature, making it the first incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains. This area was the terminus for water transportation on the Willamette River and had been a meeting place for Indians, hunters, trappers, and Hudson's Bay Company voyagers for years.

The first major overland immigration to Oregon City occurred in 1842. Three years later Samuel Barlow established an immigrant route that ran from The Dalles, around the south side of Mt. Hood, and into Oregon City. The Barlow Road funneled thousands of immigrants into Oregon City and Clackamas County during the 1840s. Oregon City rapidly became the primary urban center in Clackamas County and dominated social and political life in Oregon during the provisional government period. The removal of the territorial capital from Oregon City to Salem in 1852 shifted most of the political activity to Salem. The creation of Multnomah County in 1854, at the request of Portland residents, removed Oregon's principal commercial city from Clackamas County as well as the county's access to the Columbia River.

  Prior to construction of a courthouse, county records were housed in several locations in Oregon City, including the former provisional state house. Two of the locations burned but the county records were saved. In 1884 a frame and concrete structure was built at a cost of $145,000. In 1935 the county records were moved temporarily to rented quarters while a new courthouse was built. Using construction grants available through the Works Progress Administration the current courthouse was completed in 1937.

Clackamas County elected government is composed of five commissioners, a district attorney, assessor, clerk, sheriff, surveyor, and treasurer.

Heavily timbered, the county's geoimagesal features include Mt. Hood and numerous rivers - the Willamette, Clackamas, Sandy, Pudding, Molalla, and Salmon. Since its creation, agriculture, timber, manufacturing, and commerce have been the county's principal activities. The population of Clackamas County has steadily increased from 1850. The 2011 population of 378,480 represented a significant increase over the 2000 population of 338,391 . And from the Wiki

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Maps
Oregon Base Map Oregon Territory Map 1852
David Rumsey ~ Historic Map & Atlas Collection
Perry-Castaneda ~ Map Collection
"Oregon - Geo Hazards Viewer"
American Georgaphical Society Library - Digital Map Collection
Humboldt State University Map Collection
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Oregon Railroad Maps
"Map Goose - Interactive"
And, of course, Google Earth

More Map Resources I have access to the Library Edition of
'Historic Map Works'
Metsker's Maps, 1928 - Index ~ Metsker's Maps, 1937 - Index
Metsker Maps, 1951 - Index ~ Metsker Maps, 1966 - Index
All the files can be found in this directory you might want to download them for further study.]
The indexes are for Plat Maps, which give the owner's names as well as Business locations
I am happy to do lookups and send pages of interest. 
Contact: Martha
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Trails West & Mining History
Overland Trail Oregon Trail
Oregon Mining Maps
'Ghost Towns in Oregon' ~ The Volcanoes of Oregon
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Biographies and Books
"What's New"

"Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography "
by Wilson, James Grant, 1832-1914; Fiske, John, 1842-1901
Publication date 1900 
Appleton Review ~ Archive.org [All Volumes]


Oregon Resources / FS Catalog
Filmed Books: 1000368



"The Family of George Wise & Sarah Tong"
Wise-Tong Pioneers of Clackamas, OR
by:
Arthur D Coleman, 1965
The TOC is here.The book may be downloaded from the FS Catalog

Early Oregonians:1800-1860

"Oregon Native Son"
Publication with Bio's and Sketches
1899-1900 Index
The Books can be read online or downloaded [Archive.org]

"The Centennial History of Oregon 1811 - 1912"
The S J Clark Publishing Company
Chicago, 1912
Clackamas Folk on this Linked Chart~ Read Online or Download

"An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon"
H. K. Hines, Author; Chicago, 1893
There is an index here, but it does not break down by County.
Search the Book using "Clackamas" as the search parameter

There are more bios in the USGenWeb Archives.

"Stagecoaches of Clackamas County" ~ Documentary
Archive.org Link to the mp3

"History of the Great Northwest and it's Men of Progress"
Pub: The Minneapolis Journal - The Index is Here
Read Online or Download

2 Publications of the Clackamas County Family History Society:
Legacy Vol 15,1 ~ Legacy Vol 16,1
Interesting bits and pieces of Clackamas History

Family Genealogical Publications
There are thousands of these publications
Archive.org Link
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Family Search "Collections"
There is a wealth of Family and Historical information contained on the FamilySearch WebSite.
It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start.
So, I have created concentrated categories of databases which are accessible via linked pdf files.
All of the linked, Searchable Lists can be found here.
Cemeteries, Etc [Burial, Cemeteries, Coroner, Funeral Homes, Graves]
Church Records  [Baptism's, Catholic Church, Christenings, Church [General]]
Legal Documents and Resources [Court, Estate, Probate Records]
Migration - Naturalization - Travel [Border Crossings, Migration, Naturalization, Passenger Lists, Passports]
Military [Bounty [Land], Military [Misc], Pensions, Soldiers, Veteran's, War[s]]
Odds and Ends [Applications, Homestead, Membership, Native Americans, Parish [Location & Church], Pioneers, Prison, Voting, Obituaries, Veteran & Soldier's Homes, Children's Home]
Vital Records [Birth, Marriage, Divorce, Death, Mortality Records]


USGenWeb® Archives Access: Tables of Contents
This Link is a searchable pdf file which contains all the links to the Archives.
Each link is fully functional and will access the section for your use.
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Miscellaneous Database Indexes: Oregon
Books, Odds, Cemeteries, Funeral Homes, Coroner Records
Obituaries, Military Records,
Passenger Lists, Employment Records, Prison & Crime
Vital Records
All of the Data can be found here on my IceDrive
The Information was gleaned from Family Search

 
"The Fine Print"
The ORGenWeb Administrative Team
State Coordinator: Bob Jenkins
Assistant State Coordinator: Martha A Crosley Graham
Clackamas County Coordinator: Martha A Crosley Graham

Please see our ORGenWeb Copyright Disclaimer and other important information. If in doubt about the copyright rules,
please refer to Understanding Copyright Links to web sites that are not part of the USGenWeb ® Project are provided for your convenience and do not imply any endorsement of the web sites or their contents by The USGenWeb® Project

External Links are provided as clues and possible resources.
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Site Updated: 9 August 2023
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