Utah, Applications for Indian War Service Medals - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Utah

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of an index and images of applications for Indian war service medals. In 1905 the Utah legislature awarded service medals to veterans who served between 1850 and 1872 in conflicts with Native Americans. The collection is located at the Utah State Archives and is Series 2220. The applications are arranged alphabetically by veterans' name and include age, birthplace, residence, war served, date enrolled, rank, commanding officer, places served, years served, and type of service.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
The applications usually contain the following information:


 * Age
 * Birthplace
 * Residence
 * War served
 * Date enrolled
 * Rank
 * Commanding Officer
 * Places Served
 * Years served
 * Type of Service

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of the serviceman.
 * The approximate age of the person.
 * The birthplace of the person.
 * The years that the soldier served.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then select the 'Name range and application number range' category.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Utah, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Utah Archives and Libraries.

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image

Collection Citation: Record Citation (or citation for the index entry): Image Citation: