Should Newtonia Battlefields be included into the National Park Service?
That was the question proposed by NPS officials to Newtonia residents, area business leaders and individuals during Thursday night’s meeting at the Newtonia Commun-ity Center.
“(This meeting’s main purpose) was to let people know what the study consists of, what we will be doing to evaluate the battlefield, either as its own unit or as an addition to Wilson’s Creek (near Springfield, Mo.), and what they can expect for the next couple of years as the study goes on,” said Ruth Heikkinen, planner with the National Park Service’s Midwest regional office.
Heikkinen gave a PowerPoint presentation at the beginning of two meetings (one at 5 p.m. and the other at 6:30 p.m.), and after each meeting she held a question and answer session with the audience. There was an estimated crowd of 60 people who showed up during the two meetings.
During the Civil War, Newtonia saw two battles. The first battle occurred on was Sept. 30 1862 and saw an unprecedented number of Native American units fight on both sides. The second battle in Oct. 28, 1864 battle was the last one fought in Missouri, a state that had more Civil War clashes than any other beside Virginia and Tennessee. Approximately 350 soldiers were either killed or wounded in 1862, and 650 casualties were reported in the 1864 battle.
One of the slides in the PowerPoint told about four elements of the special resource study: Significance, suitability, feasibility and management alternatives.
• Significance: Does the site qualify as a National Historic Landmark?
• Suitability: Are there comparable sites already preserved and interpreted for public enjoyment?
• Feasibility: Can the site be efficiently managed by NPS at a reasonable cost? Sustainable use and enjoyment of the resource given potential impacts.
• Management alternatives: Different scenarios for preservation and interpretation by NPS or by other organizations. What are the implications of different types of management?
After her presentation, Heikkinen went into the question and comments section. She proposed four groups of questions to the crowd.
• What kinds of experiences do you want to have at the Newtonia Battlefield? What do you think would need to be done at the site to facilitate these experiences?
• Do you have any concerns about preserving and interpreting the Newtonia Battlefields? What are they?
• Which organizations do you think should be involved in preserving and interpreting the Newtonia Battlefields? What should they do?
• Do you have any other ideas or comments you would like to share with us?
“We lack the richness here that this site deserves….,” said Steve Roark, president of Newton County Tourism Council. “I want the family that is out looking around sites in this region of the country to do something other than just drive by here and say they went to Newtonia battlefields. I would like for them to be able to get their feet on the ground, and experience the richness of what this has to offer. In that same thing, I think that this could be an incredible resource for our students in this region of the country, to come here and learn about a significant part of our Civil War history.”
Heikkinen then asked if any students do come and tour the Ritchey Mansion and grounds.
Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association (NBPA) is a 501c3 non-profit organization and currently owns around 25 acres of the battlefield and the Ritchey Mansion. The rest of the battlefield sites are in private ownership. NBPA was formed in 1994.
Long time historian and Newtonia resident Tom Higdon said students do visit the site, adding tours are done by appointment only.
They have had five or six different groups (of students) this year.
Pete Hall, a hotel manager from Joplin, emphasized the need to have the mansion more accessible.
“One of the things that I think would be good to have is to have the mansion and the different facilities more accessible at more times…” Hall said.
Another comment from the floor came from business leader Rudy Farber of Neosho.
“I think that it would be nice to have an ongoing presentation,” Farber said.
Local historian Kay Hively also would like to see something done to Newtonia.
“I would like to see this be a place to where so if I was a scholar or just an interested historian or Native American, that this would be the place where I will come to learn about Native American involvement in the Civil War,” she said.
After the meeting, David Weems, a longtime resident of Newtonia, was asked what he thought about the NPS possibly coming into Newtonia.
“I do (think that it is a good idea), because it will be permanent,” Weems said. “The NBPA has done a wonderful job, to have our own little organization here, we have really accomplished a lot. But I would like to see some permanent step, know that it is going to be taken care of in the future.”
When Weems was growing up in Newtonia and attending school there, he noted the Civil War in Newtonia was hardly mentioned.
“Having lived here all of my life, one of the strange things was when I was in school (in Newtonia) we knew almost nothing about this battle,” he said. “We would hear a few stories of older people that knew there was something about that there was a battle, but we almost knew nothing about it, and we lived right here. The Civil War to us was back east in Virginia. I think that is too bad that we don’t know heritage.”
Another resident, Bill Turner, has been in Newtonia since the age of 3.
Also asked what is so significant about NPS coming into Newtonia if they decide to, he said, “I think that it would boost the community along and help out that way. Eventually, it might bring a little business of some kind here… I hope that everything goes good and they get the thing going, because it would be good for the community.”
Heikkinen mentioned that the meeting went well and “sounded like the crowd was very supportive.”
Heikkinen will take the information back to her office and start phase two. She also encouraged those in attendance to submit comments by way of mail or by e-mail to www.parkplanning.nps.gov, once at that site, click the “plans/docs” and then select “special resource study,” scrolling down to “Newtonia battlefields.”
“We have to do the evaluation of those three steps: significance, suitable and feasible,” Heikkinen said. “And then we have to develop a series of alternatives and we will come back and bounce some ideas —much more specific ideas — about how we might manage this place…. that is sometime in the next year.”
