Grant Funds Purchase At Mine Creek, Kansas, Cavalry Battle Site
By Deborah Fitts
FORT SCOTT, Kan

A small band of individuals determined to revive the history of a little-known Civil War cavalry battle in Kansas has succeeded in winning a major federal transportation grant to purchase more than 500 acres.

The nonprofit Mine Creek Battlefield Foundation learned in May that its $750,000 project was approved for TEA-21 (Transportation Enhancement Act) funding to buy 520 acres at Mine Creek. Under the 80-20 match, the foundation will have to raise about $150,000 of the total.

"It's great," declared foundation president John Spencer, a physician in the town of Fort Scott. "We were very surprised. It was an ambitious application."

Spencer cited the encouragement of the Civil War Preservation Trust and support from local officials in Linn County, who are eyeing tourism as a boost for a flat economy. The foundation also met "two or three times" with the Kansas Department of Transportation, which awards the grants, "and they understand we're a strong organization and the county government is strongly behind us," Spencer said.

The land will eventually be donated to the state-owned Mine Creek Battlefield State Historical Site, which owns 280 acres purchased two decades ago. Spencer said the additional land, which lies on both sides of the creek, will complete preservation of the entire 900-acre core of the battlefield.

The foundation was formed a year and a half ago, shortly after the state opened a first-ever museum and visitor cen-ter at the park and interest in the battle suddenly grew.

"We knew they needed more land," said Spencer, "but the state didn't have a mechanism to do that Ü nor the interest, to be frank."

So the foundation, comprised of eight board members, was created to raise money for land. Even before the TEA-21 award they raised $120,000 and bought 80 acres adjacent to the park.

It was at Mine Creek on Oct. 25, 1864, during his retreat following a defeat at Westport, Mo., that Confederate commander Sterling Price came a cropper while attempting to ford the stream. Two brigades of Union cavalry under Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, 2800 strong, charged Price's 6500 Confederates protecting the ford in a mile-long defensive line.

Pleasonton shattered the Confederate line, driving Price to the far side of the creek and forcing him to destroy his own wagon train.

The debacle resulted in 300 Confederates killed, 300 wounded and 600 captured, and the loss of eight artillery pieces. Price limped to Texas with the remnant of his force, and "he wasn't heard from for the rest of the war," said Spencer.

The property includes open ground, the wooded banks of the creek and three homes, which will eventually be removed. Spencer said he hoped to begin appraisals of the separate parcels in August. Some sellers are willing and some are "a little reluctant," he said. Most are elderly.

"What we're offering in order to make the deal is for them to stay on as long as they want to," which means transfer of the entire tract to the state park is likely to be several years away. The state park is administered by the Kansas State Historical Society.

The Civil War Preservation Trust encouraged the foundation to pursue the TEA-21 grant. Spencer said he hopes the Trust will help with some of the matching funds, and support will be sought from local groups as well. Last year's 80 acres was purchased with money from the Trust, the federal Land & Water Conservation Fund, and the local Baehr Foundation. The Kansas City Roundtable kicked in $3000.

With the new park visitor center in place, school classes are beginning to make visits, and staff rides to the battlefield are being organized out of Fort Leavenworth "to teach officers the lessons of Mine Creek."

"It's a virtually unknown battlefield in an out-of-the-way place, but it is one of the major cavalry battles of the war," said Spencer. "Even Kansans have no idea what they've got here."

Mine Creek is located off U.S. Route 69 about 65 miles south of Kansas City. The battlefield park is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Monday year-round.

More information about the Mine Creek Battlefield Foundation is available by contacting Spencer at 816 E. National Ave., Fort Scott, KS 66701.