Western peak joins most endangered Civil War sites

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gG4Q3F-TeolxzzyoneYA8WZyStRAD9FM3CTO1

Photo at link.

By STEVE SZKOTAK (AP) – 6 hours ago

RICHMOND, Va. — A Southwestern desert peak where cavalry clashed nearly 150 years ago has joined an annual list of the nation's most endangered Civil War battlefields because state budget cuts are set to close the park that marks the site.

Picacho Peak in Arizona, the Western frontier in the battle between the North and the South, was named for the first time on the Civil War Preservation Trust's annual list of 10 historic battlefields most threatened by development or neglect. The list was released Thursday in Washington, D.C.

In addition to Pennsylvania's Gettysburg and the Wilderness Battlefield in Virginia, the list includes some memorable battles waged in states where the Civil War still resonates on the eve of its 150th anniversary. They are located primarily in the South and the Mid-Atlantic.

For sheer distance, Picacho Peak stands apart from the rest. The state park is slated to close June 3 because of budget cuts.

On April 12, 1862, Lt. James Barrett led a detachment of Union cavalry to the rocky spire 50 miles northwest of Tucson and skirmished with Confederate Rangers, intent on blunting an ocean-to-ocean Confederacy. While Barrett was killed and the Union army retreated, Union forces from California eventually moved on to Tucson and snuffed a Confederate settlement.

The battle, while a footnote in Civil War history, still attracts annual visits by re-enactors.

"A lot of people who come from the East use it as a vacation," Ellen Bilbrey, a spokeswoman for Arizona State Parks, said of the Civil War re-enactors.

FULL story at link.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Funding problems? I suggest a corporate endorsement.