The End of the Civil War War in the West

Family of John and Rose Surguy, Coalgate, Oklahoma, circa 1895. John and his brother served in the Union Army, Rose's brothers, three of whom were killed in battle, served in Confederate units. Such situations were not unusual in the Old West.

(NYTimes) After Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865, the Civil War continued. After the final pitched battle at Palmito Ranch, Texas, on May 12-13, 1865, the Civil War continued. After Cherokee leader Stand Watie became the last Confederate general to surrender on June 23, 1865, the Civil War continued. Even after Aug. 20, 1866, when Andrew Johnson formally declared an end to the war and began to pull back the troops occupying the former Confederate states, the war wasn’t really over, at least not in the American West. Continued

Sign from a postbellum hotel bar in Tucumcari, New Mexico reads,
 "We do not discuss Politics, Religion, or the Civil War."