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Welcome to Gilliam County, Oregon Genealogy & History |
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Photograph of sign marking the crossing of the Oregon Trail on the Arlington-Condon Highway, courtesy of Oregon State Archives [OHD1007], photo circa 1938. |
Gilliam County was created on February 25, 1885, from the eastern third of Wasco County. It was named after Colonel Cornelius Gilliam who commanded the forces of the provisional government in 1847-48, after the Whitman Massacre, in the campaign against the Cayuses. He was killed toward the end of the campaign, March 24, 1848, while drawing from a wagon a rope for his horse. The rope caught the hammer of a gun and discharged it.
In 1899 a portion of southern Gilliam County was used to form Wheeler County. Alkali (now Arlington) was selected as the temporary county seat, but Condon became the permanent seat of government in Gilliam County in 1890. Condon was originally known as Summit Springs, which in 1884 took the name of a young lawyer from Alkali, Harvey C. Condon, nephew of the state geologist and university professor Thomas Condon. In 1884 David B. Trimble took the steps necessary to secure a post office and was appointed the first postmaster. Gilliam County's population was 1,750 in 1992 and increased to 2,100 in January 2000.
Gilliam county has two Nobel Prize Winners to boast about! Two-time winner of the Nobel Prize, Dr. Linus Pauling was raised in Condon, Oregon as was Dr. William P. Murphy.
SURNAMES QUERIES LOOKUPS TOWNS
RECORDS & RESOURCES HISTORICAL SOCIETY
AND MUSEUMUS GEN WEB PROJECT GILLIAM COUNTY MAILING LIST HISTORY BIOGRAPHIES* Gilliam County Photos OTHER GILLIAM COUNTY
GENEALOGY LINKSON-LINE RECORDS REUNIONS* DR. LINUS PAULING DR. WILLIAM P. MURPHY GILLIAM COUNTY HISTORICAL BUILDINGS CEMETERIES THE TIMES-JOURNAL
searchable archives
at Small Town Newspaper website: http://www.smalltownpapers.com/listTJC.htmTranscribed articles from the ARLINGTON BULLETIN newspaper * Please let me know if you have any information you would like to add to these pages including, census, cemeteries, photos, reunions (including Gilliam County families and school reunions), biographies, newspaper information, etc. tndsneddon@centurytel.net
NEIGHBORING COUNTIES:
The OrGenWeb/USGenWeb Project
In March and April, 1996, a group of genealogists organized the Kentucky Comprehensive Genealogy Database Project. The idea was to provide a single entry point for all counties in Kentucky, where collected databases would be stored. In addition, the databases would be indexed and cross-linked, so even if an individual was found in more than one county, they could be located in the index. At the same time, volunteers were found who were willing to coordinate the collection of databases and generally oversee the contents of the web page. Now the same thing is in the works for many states in the nation.
Thank you to M. Joe Schmidt for all his efforts previously maintaining this Gilliam County site!
Questions, suggestions and advice are welcome!
Contact your Gilliam County USGenWeb Coordinator, Tami Sneddon tndsneddon@centurytel.netNotice: All information submitted to this project remains - to the extent the law allows - the property of the submitter who, by submitting it, agrees that it may be freely copied but NEVER sold or used in a commercial venture without the knowledge and permission of its rightful owner. The GenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence.
Last updated 06/06/2008
Copyright © 2003-2008 by Tami Sneddon
