Nebraska Territory (pg. 7): a territory was an area under the rule of the United States but without a large enough population to qualify for statehood. Nebraska Territory was established in 1854 and originally extended from Kansas to Canada, between the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains. By the early 1860’s it had been reduced to include only the areas that are now the states of Nebraska and southern Wyoming.
Forts Laramie and Kearny (pg. 7): Fort Laramie was established in 1834 as a fur trading site, and became an army post in 1849 to protect the travelers on the westward trails. It was one of the largest military forts in the West and remained in use until 1890. Fort Kearny was a smaller army post along the trails, situated to the east of Fort Laramie. It was established in 1848. More on Fort Laramie at: www.nps.gov/fola/index.htm
Pony Express (pg. 8): The Pony Express was a fast horseback mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California. Mail took 10 days to be carried over the complete route, and one letter cost $5 to send. Pony Express riders raced between relay stations placed every 12-15 miles apart, where they would change horses. Home stations where mail would be sent from were 75 miles apart, and each rider would ride one section between these. It operated from April 3, 1860 to November 20, 1861. The advertisement for Pony Express riders ran as follows: “WANTED: YOUNG SKINNY WIRY FELLOWS not over eighteen. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. WAGES $25 per week.”
Fort Sumter (pg. 9): Located at the mouth of the Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, Fort Sumter was a major point of tension in the early months of the Civil War. The Confederates demanded the removal of the garrison from their state, but the Union was not willing to comply with their request. Impatient at waiting for the issue to be settled in Washington, D.C., the Confederates began an artillery barrage of the fort on the morning of April 12, 1861. The bombardment lasted through that day and into the following morning. Major Robert Anderson, in command of the Union garrison, surrendered the fort the next afternoon. One Confederate horse had been killed, and one Union soldier died when a cannon exploded as the garrison fired a salute to the flag before lowering it. More at: http://www.nps.gov/fosu/index.htm
Jefferson Davis (pg. 10 & 18): Born and raised in Mississippi, Jefferson Davis was a graduate of West Point Military Academy, served in the Black Hawk and Mexican Wars, and as Senator of Mississippi and Secretary of War during the Pierce Administration. He resigned as senator when Mississippi seceded from the Union in January of 1861, and on February 9 of the same year, he was elected to be the first president of the Confederate States of America. Davis had hoped to receive a military position, and was greatly disappointed when news of his election as president reached him. He was inaugurated on Feb. 22, 1861, and served in this position until the close of the war in 1865. More at: http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/jefferson-davis.html
President Abraham Lincoln (pg. 15): After working at several different jobs, including cutting log rails for fences, partnering at a general store, and serving as militia captain during the Black Hawk War, Lincoln was elected as senator of Illinois. In 1860, he was elected as 16th president of the United States without support from a single Southern state. He was reelected in 1864, losing only two Northern states. He was assassinated just five days after the close of the Civil War. More at: http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/abraham-lincoln.html
Lincoln-Douglas Debates (pg. 30): a series of debates during the campaign for the senatorship of Illinois between Abraham Lincoln (Republican) and Stephen Douglas (Democrat) from August to October 1858. These debates focused largely on the question of the expansion of slavery into the West.
First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas (pg. 38): With the Confederate capital scheduled to move from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia, on July 20, 1861, the Northern public began to call for an invasion of Virginia to prevent it. Only a few small battles and skirmishes had been fought since the declaration of war, and impatience was growing. The 90 days of enlistment for the volunteers were close to an end, and the North wanted one decisive action to end the war, believing that it could so easily be ended. Despite the knowledge that the volunteer troops were not sufficiently trained, Lincoln ordered them out from Washington under General Irwin McDowell. Many civilian spectators followed the army, bringing picnic lunches along. Rose O’Neal Greenhow, a Confederate spy in Washington, warned the Southern army under General P.G.T. Beauregard of the Union’s advance, and he was waiting at Manassas Junction when the Northern troops arrived. The battle began as Union troops scouted at Blackburn’s Ford on Bull Run Creek. McDowell led a charge on the left flank of Beauregard’s army, and succeeded for a time in driving back the Confederate forces. With the arrival of reinforcements, Beauregard’s troops drove the Union army back to Henry House Hill where the first civilian casualty of the war, 84-year-old Judith Henry, who had refused to leave her house, was killed by a shell that went through her bedroom window. The Union troops were routed in a panic and fled back toward Washington in utter disorganization. The victorious Rebs were nearly as disorganized, and failed to follow them. The dream of a 90-day war was given up. More at: http://www.nps.gov/mana/index.htm
General Irwin McDowell (pg. 38): A graduate of West Point and brevet captain during the Mexican War, McDowell led the Union troops during the first major land battle of the Civil War (see above). Unjustly blamed for losing the battle, he was replaced by General George McClellan and recalled to command the troops around Washington, D.C.
Battle of Wilson’s Creek (pg. 42): Fought on August 10, 1861, the Battle of Wilson’s Creek was the second major battle of the Civil War. The Union Army of the West was camped at Springfield, Missouri, under General Nathaniel Lyons, while Confederate forces under General Ben McCullouch approached from the South. The two armies clashed at Wilson’s Creek early in the morning, but shortly before noon both sides withdrew, too disorganized and low on ammunition to continue the battle. The Confederates claimed a victory and the governor of Missouri signed a proclamation of secession from the Union. Another Union government was set up, leaving Missouri a split state with two governments and an almost equal number of men serving in each army. More on Missouri’s unique story at: http://www.mcwm.org/history_facts.html
Hard Winter of 1861-62 (pg. 60-70): particularly well documented in experiences from Washington, Oregon, and California, but also mentioned in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Minnesota. Temperatures were around 32-52° below zero for approximately forty to fifty days, and snow ranged from six to eight feet deep in many places.
Wells & Fargo (pg. 70): An express delivery company founded in 1852. During the 1860’s it was the major stagecoach line and mail service company in the West.
Battle of Shiloh (pg. 71): Union General Ulysses Grant was camped at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River in April 1862, waiting for reinforcements under General Don Carlos Buell, before a planned move on Corinth, Tennessee. Aiming to attack before Buell arrived, the Confederates under Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard marched out from Corinth for Pittsburg Landing, surprising the Union troops near Shiloh Methodist Church on the morning of April 6, 1862, as they were cooking their breakfast, still asleep, or polishing muskets for Sunday inspection. The Rebels swept through the camp, driving the Yankees back in confusion, but were then so exuberant at their success that they stopped to plunder. Johnston picked up only a tin cup and directed the battle with it for the rest of the day until he died from friendly fire. The Confederates drove the Union forces back, but the next day, when Buell arrived with the reinforcements, they regained their ground, and the Confederates retreated back to Corinth. More at: http://www.nps.gov/shil/index.htm
Battle of Pea Ridge (pg. 72): The commander of the Rebel forces in Arkansas, General Earl Van Dorn, moved out with Generals Sterling Price, Ben McCulloch, and Stand Watie with his regiment of Cherokees, to attack General Grant’s Union army at Pea Ridge on the Arkansas-Missouri border. In a flanking maneuver on March 7, Van Dorn cut the Yankee’s supply lines and attacked the entrenched troops from behind. The Union forces opened artillery fire, which scattered the Cherokee regiment and killed McCulloch. After the Rebels ran out of shells in an artillery duel at Elkhorn Tavern the next day, they were driven off of the ridge and down the road. More at: http://www.nps.gov/peri/index.htm
Neutral/Border States (pg. 31&73): these were states that did not officially declare alliance with either government during the Civil War as the population’s sympathies were equally divided. The border states were Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri; and for a time, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia, and North Carolina, until these seceded. West Virginia, which separated from Confederate Virginia, is also sometimes referred to as a border state.
Battle of Oak Grove (pg. 84): a small battle fought during Union General George McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, by which he hoped to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, by approaching up the peninsula between the James and York Rivers. On June 25, 1862, he moved his siege guns up the Williamsburg Road, hoping to get within range of Richmond. Confederate General Robert E. Lee led a counterattack across Beaver Dam Creek the next day, and the Union forces pulled back.
Minnesota and Arizona Indian tensions (pg. 104): In Minnesota, the Sioux were suffering greatly from lack of food, due to the hard winter of 1861-62, and payments from the United States government were delayed in reaching them. Frustrated by the lack of assistance in procuring provisions, the Sioux eventually resorted to violence, and the tension boiled over into a six week-long uprising in August, which killed 400-600 white settlers and an uncertain number of Indians.
In Arizona, Union troops were marching from California to attempt to regain Confederate Arizona and reinforce their positions in New Mexico. On July 15, a company was ambushed on Apache Pass by approximately 500 Apache warriors. Finding cover in a Butterfield Overland Mail station, the soldiers opened fire with their two howitzers. The Apaches left after dark, but returned the next day for another brief engagement, fleeing again under fire of the howitzers. Two soldiers and around 10 Apaches were killed.
Battle of Corinth (pg. 140): Confederate Generals Sterling Price and Earl Van Dorn combined their forces and marched on Corinth, Mississippi, on October 2, 1862, where Union General William Rosecrans’ troops were stationed. The main fighting began on the outskirts of Corinth on October 3. The Confederates drove the Union troops back in towards the city by afternoon, but were too exhausted to continue the battle that day. By morning, Rosecrans’ men had prepared their artillery positions and opened fire. The Rebels stormed the batteries, and managed to capture two before they were recaptured by the Yankees and the Rebels driven back. Price and Van Dorn withdrew, and Rosecrans did not pursue. More at: http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/corinth.html
Fredericksburg Campaign (pg. 147): Advancing toward Fredericksburg through deep mud and pouring rain, Union General Ambrose Burnside’s plan for a winter campaign was getting off to a poor start. Due to the swollen rivers, he had to wait for pontoon bridges to be brought from Washington, which gave Confederate General Lee a chance to return from the Shenandoah Valley to Fredericksburg and secure his positions before the Yanks ever got across the river. Lee lined up his artillery on Marye’s Heights behind the city, and despite repeated charges by the Union troops, they were never able to get near the wall. They retreated back across the Rappahannok. More at: http://www.nps.gov/frsp/fredhist.htm
Foreign Aid (pg. 147): England and France both considered supplying aid to the Confederacy during the Civil War, mainly due to their need for the raw cotton supplied by the Southern plantations. England was reluctant to support the institution of slavery, which they had abolished in the 1830’s, and French Emperor Napoleon III was hesitant to become involved without England’s support. Both countries chose to remain neutral after the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, though they continued to sell them munitions and allowed them to use their ports for building war ships. Light, fast ships called blockade runners brought the goods from Europe, slipped past the Union blockade, and delivered the supplies mainly to Fort Fisher (pg. 310)
John Rarey (pg. 148): a horse whisperer from Groveport, Ohio. He became famous after he tamed a horse for Queen Victoria in 1858, and traveled around the world teaching his gentle horse-training methods. He wrote a book titled The Complete Horse Tamer. More at: http://www.rarey.com/sites/jsrarey/
Pacific Republic (pg. 152): Settled largely by Southern Democrats, California was very pro-Confederate during the war. The western advance of the Rebels that ended in the battles of Valverde and Glorietta Pass in New Mexico was spurred somewhat by the hope of connecting Confederate Arizona with California, thereby gaining a route of trade beyond the Union blockade and acquiring the gold and silver from the mines to boost the struggling Southern economy (pg. 251). The pro-Union forces from California assisted in keeping New Mexico from the Confederates and resisted the Pacific Republic movement. It was never realized.
Mathew Brady (pg. 158): one of the most well known and celebrated photographers of the Civil War.
Battle of Gettysburg (pg. 166): In a desperate attempt to move the war from Virginian soil, Confederate General Robert E. Lee boldly invaded Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863. His northern advance was halted when he met with Union forces under General George Meade at the small town of Gettysburg. The immense battle culminated in Pickett’s Charge across the open fields, which was repulsed, and the Southern troops withdrew from the state. The Union had won no significant battles up to this time, and never lost one after it. It was also the farthest north that the Confederates ever reached during the war. From these two facts, the battle is considered the High Tide of the Confederacy and turning point of the war. More at: http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm
Idaho Territory (pg. 166): Established on March 4, 1863, Idaho Territory covered most of present-day Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
Homestead Act (pg. 168): an act of Congress, which came into effect in 1862, that allotted 60 acres of free land to an individual who would farm it, build a house on it, and live there for five years, at which time they earned ownership of the land.
Stonewall Jackson’s Foot Cavalry (pg. 174): the troops of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in the Shenandoah River Valley in 1862. He made them travel so light and fast that they were once timed marching at three miles in half an hour.
Sacajawea (pg. 192): the Shoshone Indian woman who guided explorers Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean.
Bill Fairweather, John Jacobs & John Bozeman (pg. 192): Bill Fairweather was the first prospector to discover gold in Alder Gulch, Montana. John Jacobs and John Bozeman were mountain men and wagon train scouts who mapped the routes to the mines in Montana.
Donner party (pg. 193): a party of travelers that crossed Hasting’s Cut-off, a recommended route that was supposed to be a short-cut to California, in 1846. It took them much longer to cross the mountains than anticipated, and they were eventually stranded in a snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada where approximately half their number died.
St. Ignatius Mission (pg. 223): a Roman Catholic mission founded by Father Pierre De Smet in 1841 in the Bitterroot Valley, Montana. By 1855, it had a flour mill and school connected with it. In 1864, an all-girl’s boarding school and a hospital were started by the Sisters of Providence. More at: http://www.rockymtnmission.org/index.php?page=st-ignatius-mt
Montana Territory (pg. 229): When Idaho Territory became too large to effectually govern, the territory of Montana was created, following the same lines as the present-day state.
Raid of Lawrence, Kansas (pg. 236): On August 21, 1863, a band of Rebel raiders (called bushwhackers) led by William Quantrill attacked the pro-Union town of Lawrence near the Kansas border, killing approximately 183 male citizens.
Battle of the Wilderness (pg. 250): Crossing from Washington into Virginia on May 5, 1864, Union troops under General Ulysses Grant found themselves lost in a dense thicket known as “The Wilderness.” Rebel General Lee attacked them there, and the two armies fought in the tangle, hardly able to see through the underbrush and gunsmoke, and the fires starting throughout the forest. Though neither army triumphed, Grant continued to push South.
General Ulysses Grant (pg. 250): Graduate of West Point and captain during the Mexican War, Grant then tried various unsuccessful business ventures before reenlisting in the army for the Civil War. He was the first officer to hold the rank of lieutenant general since George Washington. He was elected as president in 1868.
Siege of Petersburg (pg. 250 & 310): a siege of the city of Petersburg, Virginia, by Union troops under General Ulysses Grant from June 1864 until April 1865, a few days before the surrender. This siege, together with Sherman’s March to the Sea, were effectual in bringing an end to the Civil War.
John Calhoun (pg. 261): a widely admired South Carolinian politician who advocated for secession, slavery, state’s rights and free trade. He served as vice-president, secretary of state, secretary of war, South Carolina representative and senator. Though he died in 1850, he is often considered to be the father of the Confederacy.
General William Tecumseh Sherman (pg. 285): Sherman was teaching at the Louisiana Military Academy at the outbreak of the Civil War. Though attached to the South and his Southern friends, he left his post to accept a commission in the Union army. Sherman was the originator of the total war strategy, and together with Grant, contributed most to the winning of the Civil War. After the war, Sherman remained in the army.
March to the Sea (pg. 287): In November 1864, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman left Atlanta, Georgia (captured in September), and began to march his troops across the South in a swathe 60 miles wide. They tore up the railroads and telegraph lines, set fire to the factories, and plundered the countryside. The March wound up 300 miles away in Savannah, in December.
Memphis Race Riot (pg. 371): a violent riot in Memphis, Tennessee from May 1-3, 1866, which left approximately 46 blacks and 2 whites killed, 75 people injured and over 100 robbed.
Vice President Alexander Stephens (pg. 310): one of the strongest advocates of slavery, Alexander Stephens served both as representative and senator in Georgia before the Civil War, and despite both his poor health and resistance to secession he accepted election as vice president of the Confederate States. He continued to serve in politics after the war. More at: http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/Alexander-Stephens.html
John Wilkes Booth (pg. 334): a famous actor who sympathized with the Confederacy but had not fought, who assassinated President Lincoln a few days after the war ended.
Andersonville Prison (pg. 353): the largest Confederate prison camp. Around 45,000 Union prisoners were held here, and approximately 13,000 of these died.
Frederick Douglass (pg. 364): an escaped slave, abolitionist speaker, and author of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
Andrew Johnson (pg. 380): Lincoln’s second vice president, who became president upon Lincoln’s death. A Democrat, he did not work well with the Republican cabinet, and opposed almost all of the Reconstruction efforts, including supplying aid to and granting citizenship and voting rights to freedmen and providing relief to loyal Southerners.
Proportion of Kansas troops (referenced throughout): Kansas provided more troops for the Union in proportion to its population than any other state. This amounted to approximately 32% of the population serving in the army and 24% giving their lives for the cause.