This site will be under Continual construction for several years. New information is found all the time. We will add what we know at this point and as new material is found we will add or change.
Check Back Often
1860s Sauvie Island
​
“A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by future descendants”
Lord Macaulay
(a British Historian and Politician 1800-1859)
Oregon Counties
​
Tualatin. When many of the early settlers came to Sauvie Island in 1845 the county was called “Twality” or “Tuality.” It covered an area that today is part of Clatsop, Columbia, Washington, Multnomah, Yamhill and Tillamook counties.
​
Information pertaining to early Sauvie Island people was found in the early records of all of these counties. We also found material in Clark county and Pierce county, Washington records.
​
Washington. In 1849 that area (on Sauvie Island) was renamed “Washington” and became part of that county which had existed since 1843. Information on the early families was found in the Washington County Historical Museum and at the County Courthouse in Hillsboro.
​
Columbia. Washington county was divided in 1854 and the northern or upper part of the island became Columbia County. Material pertaining to the early settlers was found at the Historical Museum in the Columbia County Courthouse in St. Helens and in the courthouse archives.
​
Multnomah. In 1854 the lower part of the island became part of Multnomah County. Material on the early settlers was found in the early Multnomah County records published by the Genealogical Forum of Oregon (GFO) and information compiled by the DAR, which is located at the GFO and at OHS.