SOME of this below is listed under the WA gen Web.......It is correct except that I'm not sure if the County Auditor has birth and death records this early. In Whitman County I got nothing for the early years......I had to go to the State Archives in Olympia to get them for the year 1887, and then they are not indexed but will look up the name for you if you have the correct County......and town. TO get Birth & Death Records Write to: Office of the Auditor Whitman County P.O. Box 350 Colfax WA 99111 1874 to present---------well maybe!!!!!!!! Now the next is VERY important. If your ancestors homesteaded......you WANT to get those records. In order to find out where they homesteaded you write to the same address above and ask them them to search deed records 1883-1900 under the name of XXXXXXX and state whether buyer or seller). Fees for searching records: $8 per hour per name plus $1 per page per document. when I did the above I did not state buyer or seller. I just told them I wanted EVERY DEED RECORD they had on my grandfather. I asked them to search for the years 1890 to 1900. I got 22 records! Amazing isn't it? The cost was about $22.00 and worth every penny. Now......to have these records make any sense......you probably need to get plat maps of Whitman County where you ancestors may have homesteaded. At least it's NICE to have them. Once you get the records or deeds YOU will find on them the legal descriptin of the property or properties that your ancestors owned and MAY have Homesteaded....... You now call or write the BLM.....or the Bureau of Land Management and the office that would have this information is in Spokane. Here is the address and Phone number for the BLM in Spokane, W: SPOKANE DISTRICT OFFICE-BLM 1103 N. FANCHER SPOKANE, WA 99212-1275 (509) 536-1200 IF the BLM can distinguish which property HAD A LAND PATENT....you then write to the National Archives Trust Fund and request that they give you all information regarding this Homestead. To fully understand this ............go to this web site and it will explain in detail what you have to do. DO be put off by the fact that is a web page from S. Dakoda. THe process is the same for every state. http://members.aol.com/gkrell/homestead/home.html NOW BOOKMARK THIS SITE.....IT'S VERY IMPORTANT. In a another post today.....I will show you what kind of informaton I got from this process. You will be amazed! xxxxxxxo Louise King La Jolla, CA Researching my dad's family SCHURRA, from Rosalia,WA, WHitman County