Oregon Military Records

[[Portal:United States Military Records|Portal:United States Military Records]]&gt;Oregon

The U.S. Military Records Wiki article provides more information on federal military records and search strategies.

Many military records are found at the Genealogical library, the National Archives and other federal and state archives. The United States Wiki article provides more information on the federal records. For Oregon the following sources are also very helpful.

Forts
Fort Dalles1850 -1867

Fort Harney 1867-1889

Fort Henrietta1855-1856

Fort Hoskins1856-1865

Fort Klamath-- Textual records of this fort, 1864-1890, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).

Fort Lane1853-56

Fort Lee- Also known as Fort Wascopam

Fort Miner

Fort Orford 1851-56 -- Textual records of this fort, 1851-1856, including registers, reports and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).

Camp San Juan Island -- in Washington

Fort Stevens-- Textual records of this fort, 1865-1922, including registers, reports and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).

Fort Umpqua-- 1856 -1862

Fort Vannoy--1855-1856 Rougue River War

Fort Vancouver-- in Washington

Camp Warner-- Textual records of this fort, 1866-1874, including registers, reports, and correspondence, are in the National Archives and are described in Records of United States Army, Continental Commands, 1821-1920, under the section entitled Records of Posts, 1820-1940 (Record Group 393.7).

Fort Walla Walla-- in Washington

Fort Yamhill-- 1856 -1866

References

Encyclopedia of Indian Wars Western Battles and Skirmishes 1850-1890. By Gregory F. Michno. Mountain Press publishing CO., Missoula, Montana C. 2003. ISBN 0-87842-468-7

Indian Wars (various years)
Published rosters of soldiers and a history of the Indian Wars is found in: Frances Fuller Victor, Early Indian Wars of Oregon, compiled from the Oregon archives and other original sources : with muster rolls (Salem: F. C. Baker, state printer, 1904).

Pension files are housed at the Oregon Historical Society, and an index is available on the internet.

Civil War (1861-1865)
A published roster that provides each volunteer's name, rank, dates of service, place of enlistment, place of birth, age, occupation, and company is M.A. Pekar and Edna Mingus, comps., Soldiers Who Served in the Oregon Volunteers, Civil War Period, Infantry and Cavalry (Portland, Oregon: Genealogical Forum of Portland Oregon, 1961; Family History Library book also ; film ; fiche ).

A published list of deaths reported to the Oregon department of the Grand Army of the Republic is Jane Myers, Honor Roll of Oregon Grand Army of the Republic, 1881-1935 (Cottage Grove, Oregon: Cottage Grove Genealogical Society, 1980; Family History Library book No. 53).

The Family History Library has an index to service records of Union Army soldiers (Family History Library film ) and a nationwide index to pension records. The actual service and pension records are available only at the National Archives.

Civil War Pension Index Cards - An of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. The majority of the records are of Civil War veterans, but the collection also includes records for veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Indian Wars, and World War I. For more information see Union Service and Pension Records.

Compiled Service Records - The Compiled Service Records ($) (Footnote.com) of volunteer Union soldiers who served in organizations from the state of Oregon are available online. In the future, these records will be made available at no charge through the National Archives web site. The service records are also available at no charge at National Archives research rooms. The compiled service records consist of an envelope containing card abstracts taken from muster rolls, returns, pay vouchers, and other records. Service records may provide rank, unit, date of enlistment, length of service, age, place of birth, and date of death. For more information see Union Service and Pension Records.

Spanish-American War (1898)
A published roster of soldiers that provides name, age, place of birth, occupation, physical description and service is C. U. Gantenbein, The Official Records of the Oregon Volunteers in the Spanish War and Philippine Insurrection, 2nd ed. (Salem, Oregon: J.R. Whitney, 1903; Family History Library fiche ).

The Oregon State Archives has the following:


 * Early service records from the Indian Wars
 * National Guard records through 1920
 * Records of the Roseburg State Soldiers' Home
 * An index to World War I veterans
 * World War I files from the State Historian of the Defense Council (biographical questionnaires)
 * Records of the state bonuses and loan applications of World War I veterans

World War I (1917-1918)
World War I draft registration cards for men ages 18 to 45 may list address, birth date, birthplace, race, nationality, citizenship, and next of kin. Not all registrants served in the war. For registration cards for Oregon, click here or see:

Microfilm records of registration cards for Oregon are located at the Genealogical Forum of Oregon. They have created an index, which is available on their website.

WARNING: Be aware that when the original cards were microfilmed, a section for Portland were omitted. Repositories holding the microfilmed copies do not have thse records. The original cards are housed at the National Archives Southeast Region (Atlanta), Morrow, Georgia, and photocopied records of the missing section are available at the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, in Portland.