Oregon Pioneers will include those who emigrated to the Oregon Territory prior to the arrival of the railroad in 1872. The Oregon Genealogical Society has issued Pioneer Certificates to persons proving to be directly descended from a person who was residing in Oregon, or the Oregon Territory, prior to 1872 when the railroad arrived in Oregon.

The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon.

I am also including in the project, but not listing in the narrative, those who are early notable figures in Oregon history, from the second generation of a pioneer family, e.g., the grandsons of Bluford Stringer who are mentioned in Gaston's The Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1911.

There are also related Geni projects, e.g., on Mormon pioneers, Wyoming pioneers, and on pioneers of Bear Valley, Idaho (listed to the side), that cover specific regions of the former Oregon Territory or specific groups.

When you add a profile to the list below, please look them up one of two sources and give the year they emigrated, where they left from, and where they settled. The two useful sources (see below for links) are: The Oregon Territory and its Pioneers which has emigrant lists by year or the Oregon Pioneers site of the Oregon Genealogical Society which lists certificates with the name, year, and location of the pioneer.

Pioneer Familes and Date They Emigrated to Oregon Territory

• William Holden Willson 1837 Marion county
• Jean Baptiste Petit dit Gobin, prior to 1839, Williamette County
• Chloe Clark Willson 1842 Clackamas county
• François-Xavier Matthieu, 1842, Marion County
• Lindsay Applegate, 1843 Klamath County
• John Holman, 1843
• Jasper Matheny, 1843
• Philip Foster, 1843, Clackamas County
• Daniel Waldo, 1843, Marion County
• Charles Applegate, 1844 Douglas County
• Virgil Kellogg Pringle, 1846, Marion County
• Rev. John Dillard, 1850 Douglas County
• George Washington Bush 1844, Missouri (originally from Pennsylvania)
• William Renshaw Dillard, 1858, Lane County

In 1853, 23 White citizens of the state of Oregon demanded that Bush’s land claim be validated. By 1854, as an elected member of legislature, Michael T. Simmons, asked Congress to exclude the Bush family from the racially intolerant laws and be given land of their own. Both requests were granted and the Bush family received 640 Acres of land, which is known today as Bush Prairie.

• Nehemiah Martin, 1844, Clackamas County
• Bartholomew Carew Kindred, 1844
• Rhoda Henderson, 1846, Williamette County
• Robert R. Thompson, 1846, settled in Vancouver and then Oregon City
• Jesse Belknap, 1847, Benton County
• Ranson A. Belknap, 1847, Benton County
• Daniel Trullinger, 1848
• William Lysander Adams 1848, Yamhill County
• William Jory, * Bluford Stringer, 1849, Peoria, IL (originally from Kentucky). Settled in Linn and Josephine counties.
• Charles B. Johnson 1850 Settled in Benton county
• Miles Davies, 1850, via California (originally from England)
• Christian Clymer, 1852, Linn Co.

1852

• Almerin Montgomery, settled in Astoria
• Ketchum
• McHaley
• Inman
• Wallace

Sources

• Oregon Pioneers, list of certificates issued by Oregon Genealogical Society
• Oregon Trail Wikipedia article
• The Oregon Territory and its Pioneers, with links to emigrant lists by year.
• George Washington Bush Wikipedia article
• Oregon Territory Wikipedia article
• Wilderville Cemetery burials, Wilderville, Josephine County, Oregon, with a number of early Stringer graves
• The Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1911" by Joseph Gaston
• Triumph & Tragedy: Women's Voices from the Oregon Trail