Carthage, Mo.: Preservation Effort Abandoned

[Dignann]

Group ends efforts to buy Civil War battlefield

Associated Press

Belleville News Democrat
March 11, 2007

CARTHAGE, Mo. - A group that wanted to buy the land on which the Battle of Carthage was fought was not able to raise enough money and has abandoned the effort.

More than a year ago, an organization called the Battle of Carthage Inc. proposed a plan to buy a 260-acre tract north of Carthage to preserve it for Civil War re-enactments and other living history programs.

The group hoped to raise $800,000 to pay for the land, and the landowner had offered to donate another 60 acres based on the initial purchase.

However, Gordon Billheimer, of Carthage, who was president of group, said it was not able to raise the $800,000.

"We had some interest, but not enough," he said. "We tried to interest the state, but we didn't get anywhere there, either."

The Battle of Carthage occurred not long after Union forces chased pro-Confederate Gov. Claiborne Jackson and members of the Missouri State Guard from the state Capitol.

When Jackson retreated to southwest Missouri, about 1,100 Union soldiers marched into the region to try to prevent Jackson's army of about 4,000 armed and 2,000 unarmed men from linking up with Confederate troops in Arkansas.

The troops clashed on July 5, 1861, on land about 10 miles north of Carthage. Facing overwhelming odds, the Union troops retreated.

A committee working to plan for the 150th anniversary of the battle still wants to leave a permanent legacy of the event.

The 150th anniversary of the battle will be July 5, 2011, and committee members have already met once to discuss the what types of observances and activities there should be, said Tom Short, Carthage city administrator and an ex-officio member.

"We've agreed there should be something left as a memorial to the event, an on-going legacy, but we haven't decided on anything specific," he said.

He said the Carthage group wants to tie its events into Civil War observances that will be held throughout the state. And committee members have agreed there should be several events leading up to the sesquicentennial "rather than just a single thing on one day," he said.

http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/16883224.htm

Eric

[Michael Comer]

Re: Carthage, Mo.: Preservation Effort Abandoned

"We had some interest, but not enough," he said. "We tried to interest the state, but we didn't get anywhere there, either."

I don't know how well they publicized their attempts because I don't think I ever heard anything about it here in the SE part of the state. I don't know if by 'the state' he means the legislature or the state park system. If it is the legislature then that's too bad because that would be the only way I could see this property coming under state management.

We already have a small part of the battlefield - small being the operative word - in the state park system. What folks fail to realize is that we cannot take everything that is offered to us and certainly do not have the funds to purchase a lot of land. We constantly have people trying to get the state to take on things. We can't even take much of the properties people want to give us let alone pay $800,000 for. The quote sounds like there was no interest on the part of the state which is not accurate. But, contrary to somewhat popular belief, the state of Missouri is not a deep pockets operation and we - the state parks - are completely dependent on a 1/10 of 1% sales tax for all of our operations. And we split that money with soil conservation. At one time, when we had general revenue along with the sales tax it might have been possible to acquire such land - but not anymore.

[John of the Skulkers Mess]

gulp

Michael,

I hope you're not saying that the only state revenue the park system gets comes from the tenth of 1 percent sales tax. If so, I am really scared.

:cry_smile

John Pillers

[Steamboat Willie]

Re: Carthage, Mo.: Preservation Effort Abandoned

I have to agree with my messmate, there could not have been much of a campaign for funds outside of petitioning the State.

I live in Kansas City, just a few hours from Carthage and I have heard nothing on the subject save for this posting. Certainly, the Wilson's Creek battlefield receives national attention from the CWPT and others, but Carthage is in a far worse preservation predicament and little has been done.

Still, even lesser known Missouri battlefields -- Lone Jack, MO for one -- have had small yet vocal proponents who raise the public awareness. Just last year, there was a thread on this very forum trying to rally support for a battle few outside Missouri probably have heard of.

I cannot say that the organizers for the Carthage preservation plan were not in earnest, but it strikes me as peculiar that this is the first we have heard of it.

Rick Gath

[Michael Comer]

Re: Carthage, Mo.: Preservation Effort Abandoned

John,

Yes, that plus what we generate ourselves is the only revenue we get which is why we were very happy it was renewed for another 10 years this past August during the special election. Our self-generated revenue would not be sufficient for us to operate. We do a good job and thankfully Missourians recognize it and have always overwhelmingly supported the sales tax.

It was originally intended to supplement our general revenue and allow us to have funds to do things such as buy places like Carthage and build new visitor centers etc. However, over the years, the legislature has taken the general revenue away a little at a time until we basically are left with this tax. It generates enough for us but we have to do a lot of careful planning and it is liable to fluctuate based on economic happenings.