The State Archives offers Oregon Military Department records for research including:
- Correspondence
- Reports
- Public relations releases
- Claim files
- Minutes
- Bonds
- Election returns
- Maps
- Photographs
- Enlistment and service records
- Plans
- Orders
- Medical case records
- Legal case records
- Muster rolls
- Rosters
- Logs
- Applications
While most of the Military Department's activities are documented, records are more complete during war periods. The records of Oregon's Indian wars - Cayuse (1847-1850), Rogue River (1855-1856), Modoc (1872-1873), Nez Perce (1877) and
Bannock (1878) are particularly interesting. These document the formation and deployment of military units, logistics and supply, arms used, campaign strategy, political activities, inter-tribal relations, the relationship of the Oregon Military Department to the U.S. Armed Forces and local civilians and methods of financing the wars.
Records also document Oregon's participation in the larger wars of the United States. The Civil War (1861-1865), the Spanish American War and subsequent Philippine pacification (1898-1902), the Mexican Border War (1916), World War I (1916-1918), World War II (1941-1945), Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1961-1973) are all represented in the records of the Military Department.
In addition to wartime actions, the records of the Military Department document peacetime activities including:
- Creation and maintenance of soldiers homes and hospitals
- Payment of veteran's claims
- Emergency mobilization planning
- Surveillance of communists
- Riot suppression
- Emergency forest fire control
- Creation of the Oregon Naval Militia (1911-1927)
- Building and maintenance of armories
- Creation of National Guard units
- Development of rules and regulations governing the Military Department
- Role of the department in the federal military system
State Archives Military Records Listings
3rd Infantry Regiment Correspondence (1899-1911)
82nd Infantry Brigade Memorandums (1924-1936)
82nd Infantry Brigade Training Program (1927-1928)
142nd Fighter Group Records (1953-1966)
Adjutant General's Association of the United States Records (1965-1985)
Adjutant General's Correspondence (1847-1986)
Adjutant General's Reports (1848-1974)
Air National Guard Maneuvers Public Relations Release (1950)
Air National Guard Survey Report (1948)
Annual Organized Militia Reports (1892-1915)
Armory and Target Range Correspondence (1911-1953)
Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee Records (1967-1980)
Association of the United States Army and Army Advisors Records (1965-1978)
Bannock Indian War Claim Records (1878-1891)
Barrington Report Records (1952-1955)
Blueprints and Drawings (1927-1948)
Board of Military Auditors Minutes (1864-1874)
Building Contracts and Specifications (1917-1963)
Cayuse Indian War Bonds (1847-1850)
Cayuse Indian War Claim Records (1847-1858)
Civil War Bounty Certificate Register (1865)
Civil War Bounty Claim Records (1865-1868)
Civil War Expense Claim Records (1860-1868)
Commendation/Appreciation Correspondence (1966-1986)
Communist Activity Intelligence Reports (1932-1939)
Company Officers Election Returns (1856)
Conference and Seminar Records (1964-1986)
Delinquency Committee Docket (1887-1890)
Delinquency Court Docket (1901-1907)
Disallowed Indian War Claim Records (1903-1917)
Enlistment and Service Records (1847-1920, 1930-1977)
Ephemera (1894-1917)
Federal Enlistment Rosters (1916)
Field Training Records (1937)
Flood Emergency Manual (1949)
General Orders (1856-1986)
General Staff Meeting Minutes (1887-1926)
Governor's Correspondence (1855-1856)
Governor's Proclamations (1854-1855)
Indian Discharge Certificates (1872-1875)
Indian War Horse Use Claim Records (1913)
Jacksonville Oregon Volunteers Hospital Patient Record (1855-1856)
Legislative Assembly Records (1847-1858)
Management Survey Report (1978)
Military Association Records (1970-1973)
Military Camp Records (1931-1983)
Military Court Case Records (1884-1958)
Military Holiday Observances Records (1971-1985)
Military Museum Records (1976-1981)
Military Reserve Records (1965-1985)
Military Rolls (1863-1895)
Military Unit Records (1917-1948)
Mobilization Plans (1928-1940)
Modoc Indian War Campaign Journal (1873)
Modoc Indian War Claim Certificates (1873-1874)
Modoc Indian War Supply Records (1870-1878)
Modoc Indian War Vouchers (1872-1887)
Morning Reports (1855-1949)
Muster Rolls (1850-1936)
National Guard Association of the United States Records (1965-1986)
National Guard Bureau Records (1965-1982)
Naval Board Minutes (1911-1921)
Non-Resident Service Record Abstracts (1941-1944)
Officers' Federal Service Record (1887-1922)
Oregon Servicemen Vietnam War Casualty Lists (1961-1968)
Oregon Soldiers Home Discipline Ledger (1894-1927)
Oregon Soldiers Home Patient Histories (1894-1933)
Oregon Soldiers Home Patient Histories Index (1894-1933)
Oregon Soldiers' Home Applications (1894-1933)
Petitions (1855-1906)
Portland Armory Cornerstone Contents (1887-1968)
Public Auction Sale Reports (1856)
Quartermaster's Correspondence (1855-1859)
Rogue River Indian War Claim Records (1853-1859)
Rogue River Indian War Enlistment Rosters (1854-1858)
Rogue River Indian War Maps (1855-1856)|
Rogue River Indian War Supply Records (1853-1857)
Selective Service System Records (1980)
Service Medal Applications (1905-1916, 1929)
Spanish American War Muster Vouchers (1902-1910)
Special Orders (1848-1858, 1918-1976)
Speeches (1976-1978)
Surgeon General's Correspondence (1856)
U.S. Comptroller's Correspondence (1852-1859)
U.S.S. Boston Steam Log (1912-1916)
Unit Orders (1927-1968)
Umatilla Indian War Claim Register (1877-1879)
Umatilla Reservation Peace Council Minutes (1878)
Unit Activity Reports (1847-1929)
Unit Inspection Reports (1863-1928)
Unit Orders (1886-1916)
Unit Organization Records (1849-1913)
Unit Rosters (1865-1939)
Vietnamese Conflict Veterans Correspondence (1970-1986)
Voluntary Enlistment Defense Test Records (1925)
Wild Horse Rangers' Meeting Minutes (1878-1880)
Work Projects Administration Records (1935-1942)
Other Oregon Sources
Office of the Adjutant General
230 Geer Drive NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-584-3985
Camp Withycombe
15300 SE Minuteman Way
Clackamas, OR 97015
503-683-5359
Federal Military Records
To order federal military records (pension application files, bounty-land warrant application files, military service records) prior to 1917, contact the
National Archives in Washington D.C.
For records relating to military service from 1917 to the present, contact:
9700 Page Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63132