In our View: Finish the job

November 22, 2008 10:35 am

— Sadly, two significant and long overdue historical preservation projects in Southwest Missouri are being caught in a federal funding vise that could delay or even prevent either of them from being taken into the National Park Service.
The first, Newtonia’s Civil War battlefield sites, has won congressional approval and presidential authorization for a study to determine if it should be included in the federal system and, if so, how. But there may not be sufficient funds available to make the $250,000 to $300,000 study in a timely manner.
The second is a plan that would convey Harry Truman’s birthplace in Lamar to the management of the National Park Service, which already owns and oversees the former president’s Independence home and his family’s Grandview farm. A study on the Lamar proposal is tied up in what has been called a U.S. Senate “grudge match.”
There appears considerable agreement on the part of the White House and Congress that the Newtonia project is historically valuable. The Truman plan may never get past just being included in national legislation.
What makes Newtonia so special? The first Civil War battle of Newtonia was fought in March of 1862, and is the only known action in which Indian units fought on both sides. The battle resulted in a short-lived Confederate victory.
The second Newtonia battle may have involved as many as 4,000 Confederates and 6,000 or so Union troops. It occurred in October of 1864 as Union calvary struck at Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Confederate forces as they were retreating following a raid into Missouri. This was the last Civil War battle fought in Missouri and one of the last in the West.
The National Park Service had given the first battle site a Priority 1 rating and the second a Priority 2. The Newtonia Battlefield Preservation Society owns the Ritchey Mansion and about 20 acres as a buffer to potential development in the area. Assimilation into the National Park Service would ensure the land would remain a Civil War historical site.
Common sense says that if the birthplace of a president is available, it should be preserved for posterity by the federal government. To get around the “hold” that Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has placed on the massive bill, we suggest that the Truman birthplace be separated from the other 160 or so land proposals and taken up on its own by the Senate and House.
We have no way of evaluating the priorities within the entire National Park budget. We do believe, however, that these two projects are important to Southwest Missouri and by implication, Missouri as a whole. We suggest a careful review of the funding for these projects and adjustments made to ensure their success. We also ask our congressional representatives to emphasize such a request to the National Park Service.