Homesteads in Clatsop County, Oregon, 1883-1894

Adapted from list compiled by Liisa Penner

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Would you like to know to the square mile where an old pioneer in Clatsop County lived?   The Homesteading Index will do this for all those who had applied for homestead claims in the years between April 3, 1883 and March 19, 1894.

 

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Also included are those who were mentioned in the applications, usually those who contested the homestead claim of someone else.  Indicated by an asterisk (*) 

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Details are as follows:

• Homestead Application claim number

• Section number

• Township North number / Range West number

• Year the homestead application was filed

• (In parenthesis are other earlier homestead application claims, donation land claims and government cash sales of land from the Cash Book 1)
   

All these claims were filed at the Oregon City, Oregon land office.

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TOWNSHIP / RANGE

The following are the Township (North) / Range (West) numbers of Clatsop County, Oregon areas.

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9/8 - Seining grounds in the Columbia River

9/7 - Brownsmead

9/6 - Tenasillihe Island

8/10 - Warrenton

8/9 - Astoria

8/8 - Svensen

8/7 - Knappa

8/6 - Clifton & Westport

7/10 - Cullaby Lake

7/9 - Lewis & Clark, Youngs Rivers

7/8 - Klaskanine River

7/7 - Wickiup Lake

7/6 - Nikolai Mt.

6/10 - Seaside

6/9 - Lewis & Clark mainline

6/8 - Saddle Mt.

6/7 - Fish Hawk Falls

6/6 - Vesper

5/10 - Cannon Beach

5/9 - Necanicum River

5/8 - Humbug Mt.

5/7 - Jewell

5/6 - Buster Creek

4/10 - Arch Cape

4/9 - Hwy. 53

4/8 - Hamlet

4/7 - Elsie

4/6 - Rock Creek, Dog Thief, Look Out - this is the SE corner of Clatsop Co.

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Sample of application details as they appear on the L.D.S. microfilm:

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(One thing that I did not copy down out of these records was the fees that were charged to the homesteader.)

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Name: John Otto Koski
Application Number: 7738
Application Date: March 8, 1889
Location: the south ½ of the southeast 1/4, and the southeast 1/4 of the southwest quarter of section 31, township 7 north, range 8 west, 120 acres in Clatsop County, Oregon.
He receives his mail at the post office at Olney. He settled on his claim on October 25, 1888. The homestead affidavit was executed before County Clerk Curtis J. Trenchard on January 11, 1889. His application to prove up was dated January 20, 1896. He received certificate number 4484.

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​Copies of the original files can be ordered from:

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Suitland Reference Branch (NNRR)
Textual Reference Division
National Archives & Records Administration
Washington D.C. 20409

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If you order copies of these applications, you must mention that the homesteads were filed at Oregon City, Oregon and give the application number, name of the person and date the application was filed, and the name of the county (and state) where the claim was located. The last time I ordered a copy of a homestead claim, the cost was only about $7.00, a real bargain, if you are interested in learning how many acres the farmer had cleared, how many he had planted to fruit trees, how many windows and doors were on the house, affidavits of neighbors and friends, date settled on the claim, and much more.

Not everyone who applied for a homestead managed to satisfy all the requirements. Many relinquished their claims voluntarily and moved on. Their homestead records may not be available from the National Archives. I haven't tried to order any of these. Some homesteaders applied again in a different place. Some died and their relatives continued the application process.

 

There is another index to the homestead applications from an earlier time, 1860s to 1883. It is available from the Clatsop County Genealogy Society, 450-10th Street, Astoria OR 97103. Contact me at the email above, or Patti Murray, president of the CCGS in 1997 and 1998.

There are more homestead indexes that date after 1894. They are also available through the L.D.S. Church. I haven't seen these yet.

About 4½ percent of the applicants (and contestants?) were single women.

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[This list is a brief index to a more detailed index of application claims that I am in the process of typing up. It is not complete, because I had made a decision to delete some I thought were out of the county. I will go back and pick these up. There were not many. Some of the homesteads would now be in Columbia or Tillamook County as the county lines have changed (several times). Also, I have not yet proof-read the following and cannot vouch for its accuracy. If you find any errors, please let me know. The index below came from an index that the L.D.S. Church microfilmed. The films with Clatsop County homestead claims also contains claims from neighboring counties, Tillamook, Columbia and perhaps more.]