+ Tips for searching the database

This search engine defaults to "OR" search settings, which means that if, for example, you search Oregon City, it will show any results containing the words Oregon OR City. To refine your results, you can add quotation marks around your search term to show only results with that specific term (ex: "Oregon City").

If you want to narrow down your search but don't want use a specific phrase, you can instead use a plus sign ( + ) to narrow down your results. Lets say you want to see photos of people fishing in the Willamette River. You can type in the phrase Willamette+Fishing to only show photos that are tagged with both Willamette AND Fishing. You can also combine this with specific phrase searches as shown above, such as searching "Oregon City"+Fishing to only show photos of fishing in Oregon City.

Lastly, you can add an asterisk ( * ) to create a "Wild Card" search, which will show you all results that match that phrase, even if the phrase is part of another word. For example, if you would like to find any photos having to do with fish or any activities related to fish you can search Fish* on the database and will be shown everything from fishermen, fishing, fisheries, and more.

+ Request a Non-Watermarked Photo

We are happy to provide non-watermarked photos from our collection to those who are interested. Please read our terms and fill out the Photo Request Form here. For questions email us at collections@clackamashistory.org.

+ Some notes about our collection

Our digital database was put together through the efforts of countless volunteers over many years and thousands of hours. While we try our best to ensure our online collection is as pristine as possible, sometimes mistakes happen. As you look through our collection you may find photos that have inaccurate descriptions, spelling errors, or uncropped photos. Please know that we are addressing these errors. We ask that you please be patient with us as we work to fix these issues. Thank you.