Wilson's Creek gets money for land, adds museum

On July 28, southwest Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt announced that he had secured $1.2 million for the battlefield to purchase adjacent tracks of land. And on Aug. 4, the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the formal purchase of the General Sweeny Museum of Civil War History from its owners, Tom and Karen Sweeney.

The museum became part of Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Aug. 10, the 144th anniversary of the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. Congressional appropriations were provided earlier this year for the purchase of the museum collection and associated buildings and grounds, according to a National Park Service news release.

According to a separate news release from Blunt’s office, the funds for land acquisition were secured in the final version of the Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2006.

Funds for land acquisition will be available after Oct. 1. The money will enable the battlefield to acquire some of the 615 acres of targeted lands important to the preservation of the history of the 1861 battle.

“The National Park Service will now have resources to acquire adjacent lands from willing sellers,” Blunt said in a news release. “Purchasing all six identified tracts is likely to be a multiyear effort, but this is a great start.”

The 2006 Interior Appropriation Conference Report directs the regional office of the National Park Service in Omaha, Neb. to develop a plan to bring all the pieces together, and to resolve several questions, including:

• Should the Sweeny collection be best left at its present site, or would it be better to move it to the visitors’ center?

• What is the best use of Sweeny House?

• What additional resources are necessary to maintain and secure the new facilities and lands?

The General Sweeny Museum of Civil War History encompasses a collection of historical objects and exhibits related to the western theater of operations of the Civil War and the Battle of Wilson’s Creek.

Interim operational hours for the museum by the National Park Service are 10 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, and these hours will remain in effect until Sept. 30. Admission to the museum is included with battlefield admission fees of $3 per adult to a maximum of $5 per family.