Found this when I had a moment to look back to press releases while at work this afternoon. We must not forget that while the Civil War is happening, United States troops are moving westward.
National Park Service News Release
For Immediate Release: April 30, 2007
Contact: David Barna
Phone: 202.208.6843
Contact: Gerry Gaumer
Phone: 202 208-4989
National Park Service Announces 391st Unit
Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
WASHINGTON, D.C.— On April 28, 2007, National Park Service (NPS) Director Mary A. Bomar, along with Tribal leaders and massacre descendents, Federal, State and local officials, Tribal drummers and ceremonial flag color guards, dedicated Sand Creek National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado as the newest unit of the NPS. This addition increases the number of units from 390 to 391. Director Bomar formally dedicated this new site, where 143 years ago a force of some 700 soldiers, the majority 100 day volunteers, attacked a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians camped along Sand Creek in Colorado Territory. The new site memorializes that massacre of nearly 160 Cheyenne and Arapaho on November 29, 1864.
“As I looked out at Sand Creek and across its valley onto the surrounding plains and bluffs, I reflected on how necessary this dedication was,” said Director Bomar. The National Park Service is proud to announce Sand Creek Massacre NHS as the 391st unit of the NPS. The history of this great nation is not complete without an understanding and respect for the tragedies that affect our national consciousness. We hope that when people visit this important national park site, they will learn about and remember the Northern and Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho victims of Sand Creek.”
The diversity of the National Park System is reflected in the variety of classifications they are given in the Congressional legislation authorizing them or by the President, who proclaims "national monuments" under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Many names are descriptive -- lakeshores, seashores, battlefields --but not all are easily categorized because of the diversity of resources within them. The NPS preserves stunning natural areas such as Yellowstone and Grand Canyon, national significant historic areas like Independence Hall or Aztec Ruins, battlefields such as Gettysburg or Antietam, seashores at Cape Cod and Padre Island, lakeshores and rivers at Sleeping Bear Dunes and Upper Delaware River, monuments and memorial like the Washington Monument or the World War II Memorial, parkways such as the Natchez Trace, and a variety of other areas like national trails, recreation areas, and preserves.
In addition to becoming the 391st unit of the NPS, Sand Creek NHS increases the number of National Historic Sites and Historical Parks to 122, and joins other recently added sites such as the Flight 93 NM, Carter G. Woodson Home NHS and African Burial Ground NM. The attached statistical summary of the National Park System shows the number of units in the system, along with the classification and acreage for those classifications. For a complete list of national park units by classification, please visit the following web site at: http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/refdesk/classlst.pdf
National Park Service News Release
For Immediate Release: April 30, 2007
Contact: David Barna
Phone: 202.208.6843
Contact: Gerry Gaumer
Phone: 202 208-4989
National Park Service Announces 391st Unit
Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site
WASHINGTON, D.C.— On April 28, 2007, National Park Service (NPS) Director Mary A. Bomar, along with Tribal leaders and massacre descendents, Federal, State and local officials, Tribal drummers and ceremonial flag color guards, dedicated Sand Creek National Historic Site in southeastern Colorado as the newest unit of the NPS. This addition increases the number of units from 390 to 391. Director Bomar formally dedicated this new site, where 143 years ago a force of some 700 soldiers, the majority 100 day volunteers, attacked a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians camped along Sand Creek in Colorado Territory. The new site memorializes that massacre of nearly 160 Cheyenne and Arapaho on November 29, 1864.
“As I looked out at Sand Creek and across its valley onto the surrounding plains and bluffs, I reflected on how necessary this dedication was,” said Director Bomar. The National Park Service is proud to announce Sand Creek Massacre NHS as the 391st unit of the NPS. The history of this great nation is not complete without an understanding and respect for the tragedies that affect our national consciousness. We hope that when people visit this important national park site, they will learn about and remember the Northern and Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho victims of Sand Creek.”
The diversity of the National Park System is reflected in the variety of classifications they are given in the Congressional legislation authorizing them or by the President, who proclaims "national monuments" under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Many names are descriptive -- lakeshores, seashores, battlefields --but not all are easily categorized because of the diversity of resources within them. The NPS preserves stunning natural areas such as Yellowstone and Grand Canyon, national significant historic areas like Independence Hall or Aztec Ruins, battlefields such as Gettysburg or Antietam, seashores at Cape Cod and Padre Island, lakeshores and rivers at Sleeping Bear Dunes and Upper Delaware River, monuments and memorial like the Washington Monument or the World War II Memorial, parkways such as the Natchez Trace, and a variety of other areas like national trails, recreation areas, and preserves.
In addition to becoming the 391st unit of the NPS, Sand Creek NHS increases the number of National Historic Sites and Historical Parks to 122, and joins other recently added sites such as the Flight 93 NM, Carter G. Woodson Home NHS and African Burial Ground NM. The attached statistical summary of the National Park System shows the number of units in the system, along with the classification and acreage for those classifications. For a complete list of national park units by classification, please visit the following web site at: http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/refdesk/classlst.pdf