About the atlas

Who makes Wallowa Atlas, and why

Stories help you understand the county, records help you investigate it, and residents’ own accounts shape what comes next.

Who makes this

Wallowa Atlas is published by Portland Civic Lab as an independent sister project, free to read. It is at an early stage. What is covered and what is still missing is listed on the coverage page.

Published by
Portland Civic Lab
Write to
edan@portlandciviclab.org
Current stage
Opening collection, September 2026

Follow the connections

A storefront can lead to its businesses, the people who worked there, a building’s history, and the industries that shaped it. A county boundary organizes discovery without containing every tribal, ecological, or economic relationship.

Voices belong to their authors

Original accounts keep their wording, chosen attribution, context, and recording date. Editorial synthesis is labeled separately. Contributors review substantive edits before publication and may request corrections or withdrawal.

Evidence and care

Every record has stable identifiers and sources. Uncertain dates and conflicting evidence remain visible. Private submissions and contact details stay out of public pages. The atlas does not build personal profiles from parcel ownership or infer religious or tribal affiliations. Page views are counted with Google Analytics, as on Portland Civic Lab’s own site, with IP addresses anonymized; nothing a contributor writes is sent to it.

How this is made

Software assists the editor with research, transcription, and drafting. No resident’s words, photographs, or recordings are generated. Contributed accounts are never rewritten by software; a contributor reviews any substantive change before it is published. Each story lists the sources it rests on.

Independent and free to read

Wallowa Atlas is an independently published sister project to Portland Civic Lab. There is no advertising, paid placement, or assumed institutional partnership. The working name and collection will evolve with the project.

Build the collection with us

The collecting ambition reaches far beyond this first release. See the coverage report for what is documented and what is still needed, or contribute a part of the story.