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Welcome to Baker County
Oregon Genealogy Research
Freight Wagons, west side of
Main St. Baker City 1890
My name is Bob
Jenkins and I created this
website to provide genealogy
information and links to genealogy
information to assist people in
researching
their Baker County Oregon
ancestors.
I would appreciate any
contribution that you would like to
make to this site:
biographies, obituaries, birth,
marriage, death info, grave info,
photographs....etc
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Use the box below to
search
for Baker
County Data
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Brief
History:
Baker County is one of the 36
counties in the U.S. state of
Oregon. The county seat and largest
city is Baker City.
The county was organized on
September 22, 1862, when a portion of
Wasco County was partitioned off. The new
county's area was reduced in 1864
when Union County was partitioned off, and
again in 1887 when Malheur County
was partitioned off. The county's
lines were last adjusted in 1901 when a
parcel was added to the county.
Baker County was named for Edward
Dickinson Baker, a senator from Oregon who
was killed at Ball's Bluff, a
battle of the Civil War in Virginia
in 1861. The county is part of the county
definition of Eastern Oregon.
The first groups from the eastern
U.S. following the Oregon Trail passed
through the area on their way to the
Willamette Valley, unaware of the
potential wealth they passed over. At
Flagstaff Hill, near Baker City, 15 miles
(24
km) of wagon ruts left by immigrants
can still be seen.
Oregon Territory achieved statehood
in 1859. In 1861 gold was discovered in
eastern Wasco County, and a gold rush
ensued. The area quickly became the
Northwest's largest producer of gold. In
September 1862 the state assembly
created Baker County from Wasco.
Later, Union County and Malheur County
were created from this county. Baker
County's boundaries were adjusted
for the last time in 1901, when the area
between the Powder River and the
Wallowa Mountains was returned to
the county.
Auburn was the original county seat;
a booming mining town with 5,000
inhabitants. Once the gold was mined out
Auburn's population dwindled. In
1868 county voters made Baker City the new
county seat. Baker City was
incorporated in 1874.
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