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| Unionstates in the American Civil War |
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| Dual governments |
| Territories and D.C. |
The history ofIdaho in the American Civil War is atypical, as the territory was far from the battlefields.
At the start of theCivil War, modern-dayIdaho was part of theWashington Territory. On March 3, 1863, theIdaho Territory was formed, consisting of the entirety of modern-day Idaho,Montana, and all but southwestWyoming. However, there were concerns aboutConfederate sympathizers in the eastern half of the territory, in what is present-day Montana. As a result, in 1863Sidney Edgerton traveled quickly to see PresidentAbraham Lincoln about the situation; this was one reason to split theMontana Territory from the Idaho Territory. The split also resulted in most of Idaho Territory's land consisting of modern-day Wyoming being reassigned to theDakota Territory.[1]
Volunteer soldiers who served in Idaho did not fight against the Confederacy, but instead monitored traffic along theOregon Trail and protected communications routes between the western and eastern United States.Fort Boise, at the site of the city of Boise was founded on July 3, 1863. Old Fort Boise near the present day city of Parma was a French-Canadian fur trading post (thus where the name Boise comes from) and was built by theHudson's Bay Company in 1834. It became one with the Snake River in 1854, and although the French began to rebuild, they later abandoned it. Many people are confused by the two forts of the same name.
Gold had been found atOrofino andFlorence, Idaho that brought trouble with the friendly Nez Perce tribe. Camp Lapwai—later Fort Lapwai—was established to keep the peace between the Indians and the miners.
TheBear River massacre took place on January 29, 1863, on what was thought to be the boundary of Washington Territory andUtah Territory near the present-day city ofPreston inFranklin County, Idaho. On that date, 300 soldiers of the3rd California Volunteer Infantry Regiment led by ColonelPatrick Connor slaughtered an encampment of at least 250 members of theShoshone tribe; only about twenty Shoshone men survived. This was in response to numerous attacks against white settlers in the previous year which were blamed on the Shoshone. The incident saw little coverage outsideCalifornia and Utah, as most major newspapers were concerned with news of the main war fronts. TheBear River Massacre Site is currently aNational Historic Landmark.[2][3][4]
There were some Southerners in the territory at the time. Most had originally gone to California, and came to Idaho to pursue gold mining.[5]
In the early part of the Civil War, Oregon and California Volunteer patrols had several clashes with the Paiute,Bannock and Shoshone bands in Oregon and the Territories of Washington (later Idaho), Utah, and Nevada collectively known as theSnake Indians. However the invasion of their territory by miners in 1863, to places likeSilver City, brought on theSnake War. The Volunteers fought the Snakes until relieved by Federal troops in late 1865; the war continued until 1868.
After the Civil War, Idaho attracted many veterans of the Union Army to the state, including several governors. An Idaho Soldiers Home was constructed during the 1890s. In the 20th century, the deaths of veterans routinely made the news. The last Civil War veteran to die in Idaho was Israel Broadsword in 1952.[6]
