The Fishing Creek Confederacy was an alleged military uprising in northern Columbia County, Pennsylvania and southern Sullivan County, Pennsylvania during the American Civil War. Residents of Columbia County strongly opposed military drafts that were being conducted there, leading to widespread desertion and draft evasion. In a Columbia County draft in July 1863, 618 people were drafted. Of these, approximately 75% evaded the draft. On July 30, 1864, several people rode into northern Columbia County from Luzerne County to search for deserters, and one of the riders was shot. By the summer of 1864, rumors had begun to circulate that these deserters and draft evaders, as well as Confederate sympathizers, had built a fort with cannons on North Mountain, not far from the headwaters of Fishing