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You can query the Oregon State family history Archives for free for birth records from 1842 to 1903, birth evidences from 1845 to 1903 and marriages from 1906 to 1910 which can be searched by name, year, source type, and county.
There is a group of printable forms on this website to help you organize your research and keep track of your information sources. This is important; after hours of research, it will be difficult to remember where you have already looked. Always write down the sources you checked, even if you didn't find anything. Keep all of your charts and forms together in a binder along with your collected research material. Fill out the forms using pencil, the information you enter early in your course of inquiry may change considerably as you conduct further research. Initially, put any information that you can on the forms; this will give you an idea of areas you need to explore. Keep track of your questions; it's a good idea to keep scratch paper handy to jot ideas down as they come to you, so you can follow up on them later. As you begin your research, remember the basic rules of genealogy. Start with yourself and work backwards through each generation. Work from the known to the unknown. Write down what you find and where you found it: which institution, collection of records, volume and page number.
In addition to census data, birth marriages and deaths, it’s worth looking for other types of family history sources, for example immigration and naturalization records, divorce papers, medical records, land titles, education registers and obituaries. All of these additional family history sources can be valuable in helping you to open up new avenues of family history research.
Graveyards and cemeteries are a prime place to dig up more information. Visit the cemetery that you know your ancestors are buried in and look for other family members. It’s a good idea to take a record of the info from the tombstones. Taking a note of wider information that isn’t directly related to your blood line may still be useful later if you hit a family history dead-end, giving you another avenue of family history research. You may not get to visit this cemetery frequently or more than once so it pays to have it recorded. You could use a digital camera to save time recording family history information from the headstones.
