The Enemy Never Came

Residents of the Pacific Northwest, like all Americans, were deeply affected by the Civil War.But the Pacific Northwest was the most remote corner of the United States, and furthest removed from the scenes of battle.Scott McArthurs book, The Enemy Never Came; The Civil War in the Pacific Northwest, examines the everyday lives of the volunteer soldiers who dealt with the Native American renegades of the region and the settlers who were deeply affected by the war but were unable to really do much about it.In the early years of the War, communication with the rest of the nation was slow and tenuous. So the early settlers of what now is Oregon, Washington and Idaho concentrated on controlling the restive Native Americans whose land and society had been overwhelmed by the Whites, vigorously argued politics and worried about invaders from the South, from the British colonies to the North and from the sea, none of whom ever materialized.