Proposed study would look at 2 Civil War battlefields in Newton Co.

NEWTONIA, Mo. -- Rep. Roy Blunt is again seeking congressional approval of a plan to study whether two Civil War battlefields in Newton County should become part of the National Park Service.

The U.S. House approved the plan last month, but the Senate did not consider it in the final days of its last session.

Blunt, R-Mo., has reintroduced the proposal, which calls for a study to evaluate the national significance of the 1862 and 1864 battlefields at Newtonia.

The goal is to create either an independent unit of the national park system or a satellite of Wilson's Creek National Battlefield near Republic.

"That has been an idea of ours for the past 10 years," said Larry James, president of the Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association.

However, he said, "This is the first time it was introduced on a national level."

James said members of the association currently handle the site's maintenance, mainly through donations.

"If this eventually goes all the way through, we wouldn't have to concern ourselves with the details of day-to-day operations," he said.

If the battlefields were to become part of the national park system, the association could apply for federal grants for which it currently isn't eligible, James said.

Kay Hively of the Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association told a congressional panel in September that the battlefields deserve preservation by the National Park Service because the First Battle of Newtonia is believed to be the only Civil War battle in which full American Indian units fought on both sides of the conflict.

The Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association owns 26 acres, including the Ritchey Mansion, which served as a hospital during the Civil War.