Global Information Lookup Global Information

Montana Territory in the American Civil War information


The Great Seal of the United States of America during the American Civil War
Union states
in the
American Civil War
  • California
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
Dual governments
  • Kentucky
  • Missouri
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia
Territories and D.C.
  • Arizona
  • Colorado
  • Dakota
  • District of Columbia
  • Idaho
  • Indian Territory
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • New Mexico
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • v
  • t
  • e

The area that eventually became the U.S. state of Montana played little direct role in the American Civil War. The closest the Confederate States Army ever came to the area was New Mexico and eastern Kansas, each over a thousand miles away. There was not even an organized territory using "Montana" until the Montana Territory was created on May 26, 1864, three years after the Battle of Fort Sumter. In 1861, the area was divided between the Dakota Territory and the Washington Territory, and in 1863, it was part of the Idaho Territory.

Nevertheless, Confederate sympathizers did have a presence in what is now the U.S. state of Montana. Those in the Montana Territory who supported the Confederate side were varied. Among them were Confederate sympathizers who were determined that some of Montana's gold would go into the Southern instead of Northern coffers. But most were those who would rather not fight in the war, which ranged from pure drifters to actual Confederate deserters.[1]

Varina Davis

In southwest Montana, Madison County residents of the area native to the Southeast United States wished to name their new town Varina, in honor of Varina Davis, the wife of the Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The Varina Townsite Company, on June 16, 1863, went to confirm the 320 acres (1.3 km2) of land as the town of Varina. However, when they applied for the name, the judge—Connecticut native Dr. G.G. Bissell—refused, saying they would be "damned" before he would allow the town to be named for the first lady of the Confederacy. Bissell did say he would allow the company to name the town after the state of Virginia, and they did so, incorporating the town of Virginia City. Charles Dickens even mentioned it in his book All the Year Round.[2] The town would remain sympathetic to the South, even after being named the capital of Montana. The loyalty towards the Confederacy concerned many supporters of the Union. Seeing this, Sidney Edgerton in 1863 went quickly to see Abraham Lincoln about the situation, and this was one impetus to create the Montana Territory so quickly.[3]

Gold mining in Montana began during the Civil War; gold placer deposits were discovered at Bannack in 1862. The resulting gold rush resulted in more placer discoveries, including those at Virginia City in 1863 and at Helena and Butte in 1864.[4] Gold from the Montana gold mines went to both sides of the conflict.[5] In Broadwater County, in the central portion of the state, Confederate sympathizers found a vein of gold eight miles (13 km) west of Townsend, with the immediate area named "Confederate Gulch" in their honor. It was said to be among the "largest and richest of the placer diggings" within the state.[6][7]

  1. ^ Sargent, Tom. Lincoln's Vulnerable Treasure Chest, The Civil War in Montana (Virginia City Preservation Alliance, 1999)
  2. ^ Dickens, Charles. All the Year Round. 1868. p. 60.
  3. ^ Sargent, Tom. The Commanding Officers in Montana, The Civil War in Montana. Virginia City Preservation Alliance, 1999.
  4. ^ Koschman, A. H., and M. H. Bergendahl. Principal Gold-Producing Districts of the United States (Professional Paper 610). United States Geological Survey, 1968, p.143.
  5. ^ Sargent, Tom. The Economics of the Civil War, The Civil War in Montana (Virginia City Preservation Alliance, 1999)
  6. ^ Cromie, p. 172.
  7. ^ Dimsdale, p. 244.

and 27 Related for: Montana Territory in the American Civil War information

Request time (Page generated in 1.128 seconds.)

Montana Territory in the American Civil War

Last Update:

The area that eventually became the U.S. state of Montana played little direct role in the American Civil War. The closest the Confederate States Army...

Word Count : 1918

Idaho Territory in the American Civil War

Last Update:

The history of Idaho in the American Civil War is atypical, as the territory was far from the battlefields. At the start of the Civil War, modern-day...

Word Count : 850

Washington Territory in the American Civil War

Last Update:

The role of Washington Territory in the American Civil War is atypical, as the territory was the most remote from the main battlefields of the conflict...

Word Count : 1836

Nebraska Territory in the American Civil War

Last Update:

The present-day state of Nebraska was still a territory of the United States during the American Civil War. It did not achieve statehood until March 1867...

Word Count : 695

Utah Territory in the American Civil War

Last Update:

The Utah Territory (September 9, 1850 - January 4, 1896) during the American Civil War was far from the main operational theaters of war, but still played...

Word Count : 1531

Colorado Territory in the American Civil War

Last Update:

The Colorado Territory was formally created in 1861 shortly before the bombardment of Fort Sumter sparked the American Civil War. Although sentiments were...

Word Count : 1812

Montana Territory

Last Update:

admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. The Montana Territory was organized out of the existing Idaho Territory by Act of Congress...

Word Count : 1333

List of American Civil War battles

Last Update:

Battles of the American Civil War were fought between April 12, 1861, and May 12–13, 1865 in 19 states, mostly Confederate (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida...

Word Count : 731

American frontier

Last Update:

For example, the Old West subperiod is sometimes used by historians regarding the time from the end of the American Civil War in 1865 to the when Superintendent...

Word Count : 32717

Dakota Territory

Last Update:

part of Dakota Territory, but was transferred to Nebraska in 1882. Dakota Territory was not directly involved in the American Civil War but did raise some...

Word Count : 2480

New Mexico Territory in the American Civil War

Last Update:

in the trans-Mississippi theater of the American Civil War. Despite its remoteness from the major battlefields of the east, and its being part of the...

Word Count : 2838

Confederate Arizona

Last Update:

Mesilla. After the start of the American Civil War, support for the Confederacy was strong in the southern part of the New Mexico Territory. Some residents...

Word Count : 2195

Oregon in the American Civil War

Last Update:

Theater of the American Civil War Idaho in the American Civil War Montana in the American Civil War Washington in the American Civil War Edwards, Glenn...

Word Count : 1014

Bibliography of the American Civil War

Last Update:

The bibliography of the American Civil War comprises books that deal in large part with the American Civil War. There are over 60,000 books on the war...

Word Count : 28475

Outline of the American Civil War

Last Update:

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the American Civil War: American Civil War – civil war in the United States of...

Word Count : 2343

Conclusion of the American Civil War

Last Update:

The conclusion of the American Civil War commenced with the articles of surrender agreement of the Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, at Appomattox...

Word Count : 5576

Missouri in the American Civil War

Last Update:

During the American Civil War, Missouri was a hotly contested border state populated by both Union and Confederate sympathizers. It sent armies, generals...

Word Count : 6143

California in the American Civil War

Last Update:

California's involvement in the American Civil War included sending gold east to support the war effort, recruiting volunteer combat units to replace...

Word Count : 6370

Indian Territory

Last Update:

Indian removal. After the American Civil War (1861–1865), the policy of the U.S. government was one of assimilation. Indian Territory later came to refer...

Word Count : 7919

Maryland in the American Civil War

Last Update:

During the American Civil War (1861–1865), Maryland, a slave state, was one of the border states, straddling the South and North. Despite some popular...

Word Count : 7537

Montana

Last Update:

Montana (/mɒnˈtænə/ mon-TAN-ə) is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Idaho to the west, North...

Word Count : 23214

Michigan in the American Civil War

Last Update:

contribution to the Union during the American Civil War. While the state itself was far removed from the combat theaters of the war, Michigan supplied...

Word Count : 1435

Iowa in the American Civil War

Last Update:

The state of Iowa played a significant role during the American Civil War in providing food, supplies, troops and officers for the Union army. Iowa had...

Word Count : 1956

List of wars involving the United States

Last Update:

American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Cold War (which encompasses the Korean War, and the Vietnam War), the Gulf War and...

Word Count : 2438

Nevada in the American Civil War

Last Update:

statehood in the United States on October 31, 1864, in the midst of the American Civil War, was expedited by Union sympathizers in order to ensure the state's...

Word Count : 2268

Regional bibliography of the American Civil War

Last Update:

article forms part of Bibliography of the American Civil War. Colton, Ray Charles. The Civil War in the Western Territories: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico,...

Word Count : 9335

Kansas in the American Civil War

Last Update:

At the outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861, Kansas was the newest U.S. state, admitted just months earlier in January. The state had formally...

Word Count : 1401
PDF Search Engine © AllGlobal.net