The Civil War in Montana SECOND DRAFT REVISION This is a thirty page essay. Below is a Table of Contents which tells you what is in each section. You can click on the title to go there. The text is contained in three separate files to make loading easier. I have bookmarked it as carefully as I can. I hope it works for you. Come and visit us in person after you read about us here. Calendar of Events in Virginia City, Montana. Prologue Skip the Prologue The fact that Virginia City, Montana was first called "Varina, Idaho Territory" after the wife of Jeff Davis, the President of the Confederate States, while the Civil War was raging, and the fact that this mostly Rebel population was located in a remote territory which belonged to the Union would lead naturally to significant North - South conflicts. In addition, most historians concede that the Civil War was won more by economics than by battle strategy. Furthermore, Virginia City, Montana and its neighbor, Nevada City, sit on gravel which possessed astounding wealth. It was essential that the North protect this treasure of gold from the Virginia City, Montana gold mines both FROM the Rebels and FOR the Yankees. This paper is an exploration of how that may have been done and the probable role of the Vigilantes. This paper is a result of some of my ongoing research concerning Virginia City, Montana, especially in the William Robertson Coe collection of Western Americana at Yale Beinecke Library. It also includes material from the work of my friends in the Montana National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer Bernadette and General Ron Adams, in the National Archives. For a half century I have heard and told others about the secret society of robbers and murderers headed by the Sheriff of Bannock and Virginia City, Montana. A decade ago George Cox and I opened a wall in my house and uncovered Union Soldier graffiti from Civil War days, and I began to think differently. I accumulated considerable material which made it clear to me that the story about the robber's secret society is a myth. Then came Ruth Mather and the others and a new understanding of what happened in Virginia City at the time of the Civil War confronted me. I found a few sources which began to paint a different picture, so I wrote it up. But, before I managed to put it down completely, more new material confronted me and once again altered the story of what happened in the early days of Virginia City. And then, it happened again. I have now made a commitment to write it out as I see the picture from the documents I have found thus far. I am sure that the picture will change again, but what I have so far discovered is so important and engaging that it needs to be shared NOW. So, here is the account of "what really happened", knowing that another account will have to be written soon again in order to present what "really really happened". I am also permitting myself to write from memory in some cases, so inaccuracies will be observed. Please point them out so I can correct them. The documentation will be added as soon as I come up with a final form in which to present what I want to say. During one phase of investigation, we searched endlessly for congressional or editorial discussion of the fairly large amount appropriated by the Congress for the purpose of funding Fisk and his men to organize and protect emigrants from St. Paul to the gold fields. You will recall that THE CLUE in A. Conan Doyle's HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES was that the dog did NOT bark - thus identifying his master and therefore the murderer. Well, it finally dawned on me that Virginia City, Montana, was a strategic part of the Civil War, and that what the town lived through was a battle of the Civil War, fought through terrorism and rope rather than with sabers and black powder. That there was not a single "bark" (so far in our investigations) communicates that everyone but we who live today knew that the gold was strategically necessary for continuing the war. The economic and financial battles of the Civil War were fought out largely in Virginia City with ropes. I have no interest in copyrighting this material. There are two or three characters in this material who should be written into historical novels. There are magazine articles here. There are at least two books that I can see in these pages. I invite you to take the material and do what you will with it. I hope to live long enough to see what you and I do with this growing body of new material. I also want your critique of the writing and of the content. Please contact me, Tom Sargent, at sarge@newpsych.org or (406) 843-5503 or (860) 674-1635. Thanks very much. Please Write Me Tom Sargent 18 April 1999 Please note that below is an Annotated Table of Contents. In the next document (of four in all) is an ordinary Table of Contents through which you can find each of the headings below. Click on "Introduction" to get to the next document and the Table of Contents will be just above the text. At the end of each document is a link which will get you to the top of the next document. Each title in the Table of Contents is a link to the section it names. The Civil War in Montana Rev.2, 28 March 1999 by Tom Sargent Annotated Table of Contents: (Click To Go) Introduction (Document cwmt1.htm) The general conditions across the divided nation and in Virginia City, Montana during the Civil War suggest that there was more of a direct connection between Washington, D.C. and Montana than has been yet described. Gold was the issue. Virginia City Today Tourists visit Virginia City, Montana as a quaint "old west" site, with no understanding of its significance in the Civil War, while Civil War buffs seek new horizons for their visits and interests, but do not know about Virginia City, Montana. The Setting Virginia City, Montana was producing enough gold to win the Civil War for whoever could capture it. First named "Varina" after the wife of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, located in Union territory and occupied by a majority of avowed secessionists, Virginia City, Idaho Territory was in a vulnerable position. The Emigrants Emigrants flooded into Idaho and Montana from all over the world, but chiefly from the South disrupted by the bloody war. Lincoln saw to it that emigrants from the North were brought to Virginia City to help hold the gold for the North. The Divided Nation at War Visitors to Virginia City rarely are confronted with the Civil War origins of the town, or of its significance in winning the Civil War for the Union. While unruly Virginia City, Montana Territory fought within itself, the horrors of the Civil War blazed away back in the States. Virginia City, the Strategic Necessity (Document cwmt2.htm) The discovery of this huge and strategic supply of gold in Virginia City is a story as strange as any you could imagine. Lincoln's Vulnerable Treasure With battles not far to the south, the Union treasure (first in Idaho, then across the mountains in Montana) was vulnerable both to Confederate take-over and to the draining of some of the liquid riches into the coffers of the South. Mining Gold in Alder Gulch The gold which was mined during the Civil War came from what are called "placer" deposits. What they are and how they were mined helps to clarify what was happening in Virginia City. The Economics of the Civil War The primary issue of the Civil War was the disruption of the Old Way of Life of the South (including slavery) by the success of the Industrial Revolution. To win the war the South would have to adopt the Industrial Revolution, thus losing anyway. The liquid asset of Virginia City gold flowing into the coffers of the North won the Civil War for the Union. Even Jeremiah Johnson Was in the Act Because so many people know of Jeremiah Johnson, it is helpful to tie in his visit to Virginia City. A picture of the kind of life he lived and his service in the Union Army gives a new perspective on the Civil War around Virginia City. Making a Civil War in Montana (Document cwmt3.htm) The Civil War in Virginia City, Montana was fought with rope, not black powder. It was also fought with new geographic borders and political activities. Finally, it was fought by emigration of certain types of people into the Territory to protect it for the Union. Lincoln Changes the War Most people have not studied the Civil War closely enough to understand what it was about, so the fact that President Lincoln deliberately changed the purpose of the war may seem to be insignificant. It was a clever strategy. Virginia City, the Strategic Thorn in the Flesh Much of the lawlessness which appeared in Virginia City from its start came from Rebel-Yankee antagonisms, struggles and issues. Being in Union territory, the Confederate population of Virginia City constantly disrupted the attempts of these Republicans to administer the Territory and to rule the town. Action in Montana Union interests took action, first by making the area more manageable by making Montana a separate territory from Idaho, placing the government closer to the significant population centers. The Commanding Officers in Montana Sidney Edgerton, a friend and political cohort of Lincoln, was made Governor of the new Montana Territory. The political struggle was just beginning and Edgerton was consistently losing. A Culture of Violence To understand the necessity of the Vigilantes of Montana you need to know the nature of Edgerton's political struggle and recall the culture of violence in all of the Civil War, on the frontier and in Virginia City. Law for a Lawless Land In order to protect the gold for the Union and to tame the lawless land, the powers of the North began a group called the Vigilantes who would secure Montana Territory and Virginia City with its strategic gold for the Union. Swift Terror The Vigilantes of Montana were effective for what they desired. They were deliberately cruel, administering tortuous strangulation, with the horrible pain witnessed by thousands. They acted on Edgerton's belief that being a Democrat was treason, and lynched northern Democrats as well. Epilogue The South won the war in Montana. Citizens of Virginia City celebrated the assassination of President Lincoln. All over Montana the Rebels enjoyed their ability to disrupt Sidney Edgerton's government. They outnumbered and outvoted him on all kinds of issues. They could turn out six hundred Democratic votes in towns of one hundred. They didn't need to flaunt their ability to flood the ballot boxes, they had the plurality anyway, but they loved to do it. Click HERE to go to the first text file. The next file has the first section of The Civil War in Montana You will find the same Table of Contents (without annotation) at the top of the text on the next page. Please comment on these pages. Tom Sargent P.O. Box 134 Virginia City MT 59755 Tel. (406) 843-5503 or 22A Lakeshore Drive #2 Farmington CT 06032 Tel. (860) 674-1635 Please Write Me Click HERE to go to Virginia City Homepage Page last updated 30 September 1999