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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Copper. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Copper to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Copper, please Contact Us.

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Copper (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Copper. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Although our information shows that the community of Copper is historic, it would have been located within present day Wallowa County.

To see how the shape of Oregon's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Wallowa County: Adams (ID), Idaho (ID), Nez Perce (ID), Baker, Umatilla, Union, Asotin (WA), Columbia (WA) & Garfield (WA).

Below are the counties that are near Copper. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Copper:

  • Wallowa County     (The home county of Copper)
  • Idaho County (ID)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Copper, with the one closest to Copper listed first.
    • Copperville
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Copperville
      • Copperville is located in Idaho County (ID)
    • White Bird
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Boles
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boles
      • Boles is located in Idaho County (ID)
    • Lucile
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lucile have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucile
      • Lucile is located in Idaho County (ID)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lucile <2>
    • Shells Lick
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shells Lick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shells Lick
      • Shells Lick is located in Idaho County (ID)
    • Keuterville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Fenn
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fenn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenn
      • Fenn is located in Idaho County (ID)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fenn <2>
    • Cottonwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Grangeville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grangeville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grangeville
      • Grangeville is located in Idaho County (ID)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,261 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grangeville <2>
    • Mount Idaho
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mount Idaho. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Idaho
      • Mount Idaho is located in Idaho County (ID)
    • Riggins
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Ferdinand
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ferdinand have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferdinand
      • Ferdinand is located in Idaho County (ID)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ferdinand <2>
    • Greencreek
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Greencreek have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greencreek
      • Greencreek is located in Idaho County (ID)

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Copper, see our County-by-County Page for Copper.

Cemeteries Near Copper ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Copper.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Copper covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Copper, with the one closest to Copper listed first.

  • Joseph Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Joseph Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Joseph Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #80523 <5>
  • Canfield Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Canfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Canfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • White Bird Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Bird Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the White Bird Cemetery is located outside and to the southwest of White Bird (ID).
  • Slate Creek Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Imnaha Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Imnaha Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Imnaha Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Denver Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Denver Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Denver Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cottonwood Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cottonwood Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cottonwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cottonwood Community Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • Cottonwood Catholic Community Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
  • North Riggins Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Riggins Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Riggins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riggins Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Prairie View Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Mt. Idaho Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Morrow Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morrow Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morrow Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.

While we didn't find Copper in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Copper.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Copper, with the one closest to Copper listed first.

  • White Bird
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Imnaha
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Cottonwood
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Grangeville
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grangeville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grangeville
    • Grangeville is located in Idaho County (ID)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,261 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grangeville <2>
  • Mount Idaho
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mount Idaho. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Idaho
    • Mount Idaho is located in Idaho County (ID)

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Copper. See our List of 1890's Communities around Copper.

Newspapers Published in Copper ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 14 newspapers that have been published in the area around Copper.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Copper, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Copper.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Copper:

The official website for Wallowa County: www.co.wallowa.or.us/

The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Copper, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<5>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Copper) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Copper. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 45.7513, Longitude: -116.5482       In this case, the coordinates for Copper have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025