Oregon Military Records

United States U.S. Military  Oregon  Military Records

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 (1780s-1890s)
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 to 1865)
See Oregon in the Civil War for information about Oregon Civil War records, web sites, etc. with links to articles about the Oregon regiments involved in the Civil War.

The regimental pages often include lists of the companies with links to the counties where the companies started. Men in the companies often lived in the counties where the companies were raised. Knowing a county can help when researching more about the soldiers and their families.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System allows name searching for soldiers. The result set gives the regiments for the soldiers. Then you can check the Wiki regiment pages to determine counties. Often knowing the counties that had men in a regiment will help you determine if a soldier was your ancestor.

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Oregon, Civil War Service Record of Union Soldiers (FamilySearch Historical 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 ).

Philippine Insurrection (1898–1902)
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 ).

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. These cards have been digitized and are searchable online. See WWII Draft Records for more information.

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.

Additional Records
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