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Posted on Thu, Jun. 03, 2004
The Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...8830980.htm?1c (accessed June 4, 2004)
Blunt introduces bill to expand Wilson's Creek boundaries
Associated Press
BATTLEFIELD, Mo. - One of the nation's few relatively untouched battlefields would be expanded to its original Civil War acreage under a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt.
Blunt, R-Mo., introduced legislation late Wednesday night to expand the protected boundaries of Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.
The bill was expected to be considered next week by the House Resources Committee. It would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire 615 acres of land that was part of the initial southwest Missouri battlefield.
"The Battle of Wilson's Creek was the first major Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River," Blunt said. "The battlefield remains in almost pristine condition, but we need to preserve the field as a historic site for future generations of Missourians to enjoy and learn from."
Encroachment by growth in Springfield, Rogersville and Battlefield - which have become home to some 380,000 people since Wilson's Creek became part of the national parks system in the 1960s - earlier prompted its addition to Civil War Preservation Trust's list of 15 "at risk" battlefields.
Ted Hillmer, superintendent of the battlefield, said Thursday that none of the parcels are formally for sale, although a few landowners have contacted him about a deal.
The first Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River was fought at Wilson's Creek in August 1861. A Confederate victory, the battle also was the scene of the death of Nathaniel Lyons, the first Union general to be killed in combat.
The Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...8830980.htm?1c (accessed June 4, 2004)
Blunt introduces bill to expand Wilson's Creek boundaries
Associated Press
BATTLEFIELD, Mo. - One of the nation's few relatively untouched battlefields would be expanded to its original Civil War acreage under a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt.
Blunt, R-Mo., introduced legislation late Wednesday night to expand the protected boundaries of Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.
The bill was expected to be considered next week by the House Resources Committee. It would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire 615 acres of land that was part of the initial southwest Missouri battlefield.
"The Battle of Wilson's Creek was the first major Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River," Blunt said. "The battlefield remains in almost pristine condition, but we need to preserve the field as a historic site for future generations of Missourians to enjoy and learn from."
Encroachment by growth in Springfield, Rogersville and Battlefield - which have become home to some 380,000 people since Wilson's Creek became part of the national parks system in the 1960s - earlier prompted its addition to Civil War Preservation Trust's list of 15 "at risk" battlefields.
Ted Hillmer, superintendent of the battlefield, said Thursday that none of the parcels are formally for sale, although a few landowners have contacted him about a deal.
The first Civil War engagement west of the Mississippi River was fought at Wilson's Creek in August 1861. A Confederate victory, the battle also was the scene of the death of Nathaniel Lyons, the first Union general to be killed in combat.
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