Pioneer certificates are issued to direct descendants of persons who lived in Idaho before Statehood, 3 July 1890.  Applicants must prove direct descent from a person who was in Idaho Territory prior to statehood.  The ancestor need not have been born here; they need not have stayed here but applicants must prove they were once here. Click image below for full size view of the certificate. This link will open a new window.

Early Settler certificates are issued to descendants of persons who came to Idaho between Statehood, 3 July 1890 and 31 December 1900.    Applicants must prove direct descent.  The ancestor need not have been born here; they need not have stayed here but applicants must prove they were here during the specified time. Click image below for full size view of the certificate. This link will open a new window.

Oregon Trail certificates are issued to persons whose ancestors traveled on the Oregon Trail.  Applicants must prove direct descent from a person who traveled any part of the Trail by wagon, handcart, horseback, stagecoach, or on foot, between 1811 and 1911. Click image below for full size view of the certificate. This link will open a new window.

For all certificates, applicants need not be a resident of Idaho nor have ever lived in Idaho.  Separate certificates will be issued for each ancestor proven.  Proof of descent may be sent only once, but if you make subsequent requests for certificates using the same pioneer, you must complete additional applications, referring to the documentation previously sent.  Include certificate number from earlier certificate.  Cost for each certificate is $10 for non-IGS members.  IGS members pay $10 for the first certificate and $5 for each additional certificate requested at the same time and relying upon the same lineage.    Delivery may be expected within six weeks of receipt of application.

Click here to open Application. (The file is a PDF and will open in a new browser window.)

Application instructions:
1.  Complete each section of the application to the best of your ability.  Pay particular note to the section that asks exactly how you want the finished certificate to read.  Incomplete or inaccurate applications will delay your request and may result in errors.  Always use maiden names of all females.
2.  Complete the pedigree chart, starting at the top with you and going back, generation by generation.
Click here to open Application. (The file is a PDF and will open in a new browser window.)
3.  Attach one copy of each document per generation to prove lineage.  NEVER send originals as they will not be returned.  Examples of proof documents are shown below.
4.  Send completed application, proof documents, completed pedigree chart, along with $10 per certificate (no cash, please!) to Idaho Genealogical Society, PO Box 1854, Boise ID 83701-1854.  If certificate is to be mailed to a different address than your own, be sure to include that information.  Applications without this information will automatically be sent to the applicant.

Examples of proof documents:
ªCensus data – include year, county, enumeration district and sheet number.  Hand copies acceptable.
ªLand records, plat books showing date, location.  For OT applications, use land records at destination.
ªBirth records, certificates, baptism or church record, Bible entry.
ªDeath records, certificate, mortuary record, tombstone or cemetery record (include name of cemetery), newspaper obituary (include name and date of newspaper).  Consider published family or county histories, genealogies, diaries, journals or letters, with dates and placed noted.  **
ªMarriage records, certificate, newspaper notice (include name and date of newspaper).
ªTax or school records.
ªImmigration or naturalization papers
Note:  Family group sheets and pedigree charts are NOT proof.  Documentation described above is required.

**Family stories handed down through generations tell of Oregon Trail history being made by common folk getting on with their lives without reporters there to record events and stories.  Sometimes these are all that survive.  If your family has such stories, write them down and then try to prove them using the documentation examples shown here.  You may not only earn a certificate but will create a written history of your family that didn’t exist before.

Checklist:  Be sure to complete all sections of the application and pedigree chart, include copies of all proof documents and payment for each certificate.

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