Utah, Indian War Service Affidavits - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Utah

What Is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images to service affidavits of veterans who served in the militia during the Indian Wars. The collection is numerical by box and folder, then alphabetical by surname. There are three types of affidavit forms:


 * Soldier
 * Widow or child
 * Witnesses

In most cases, there will be two images per affidavit.

The collection covers the years 1909 to 1917.

The Indian War lasted between 1865 and 1890. Nineteen years after the war ended the legislature created a Board of Commissioners of Indian War Records. The board was responsible for collecting the names of war veterans. Veterans completed affidavits of service while two witnesses also completed supporting affidavits. The affidavits were then filed in the office of the chairman of the board, the Adjutant General of the State, and were used to verify pension claims. These records are generally reliable, but depend on the memory of the veteran or the knowledge of the wife or children.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The affidavits are written on a pre-printed form and may provide:


 * Veteran's name
 * Age
 * Residence
 * Name of the county in which he took oath
 * Date of enrollment
 * Type of company
 * Captain's name
 * Length of service
 * Transfer dates
 * Description of duties
 * Date of release
 * Names of two witnesses

If a veteran was deceased, his wife or children could fill out an affidavit in his place.

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search you will need to know:
 * The name of the soldier.
 * The approximate dates of service.

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

'View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then select the "Surname Range, Box Number and Folder Number" 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. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
 * 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:

Image citation: