Open To Interpretation

Fifty-eight years after the park was formed, the staff at Pea Ridge National Military Park finds plenty to do. One hundred fifty-two years after the Battle of Pea Ridge, there's still plenty for them to find, too.

For example, a project to remove cedar trees from the park's forest revealed a cistern staff members didn't know was there, explained Kevin Eads, chief of resources management for the park, and they discovered a spring that ran through the cistern. "And when we cleared out the cedars, the spring began to run again," he says.

Staff members recently completed and released the Cultural Landscape Report and Environmental Assessment and the Vegetation Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, both part of the park's resource management plan. A public comment period for both lasts until June 21. The staff posted both plans on the park's website for review and comment. Here, Eads explains what the assessments might mean to the future of the park.

Culture, nature collide

The National Parks Service considers Pea Ridge National Military Park one of the best-preserved Civil War battlefields in the nation, Eads says. Yet, on March 7-8, 1862, the landscape in 1862 was quite different.

At the time of the battle, the land featured prairie, savanna and open forest areas on Little Round Top and Elkhorn mountains, Eads explained. Between the time of the battle and the creation of the park, these environments changed as settlers cleared the land for farming. When the National Park Service took over, the forests were allowed to regenerate on the cleared lands, to the point of the dense undergrowth seen today but not during the war.

"Before you can manage, you have to have something to manage," Eads says. "We had to grow the forest."

Primary battle reports and oral histories record that Union troops in Orberson's field could see Confederate soldiers hiding behind trees and among rocks on Little Round Top -- although in early March, the leaves were off the trees, Eads admits. Today, the growth on the mountain would make this impossible.

Just below the East Overlook on Elkhorn Mountain lie other rock bluffs where Confederates hid. Union cannons bombarded the rocks, which created deadly shrapnel, Eads points out. The Union would target all its cannons on one Confederate cannon until it was destroyed, and then move to another, he explains.

"(More open vegetation), to me, helps me understand how the cannons, the horses, the accouterments -- all the things that went along with the cannons -- could get around so quick," he says.

From the East Overlook, Eads also points out the G.W. Ford farm to the south. The National Park Service restored a peach orchard there and surrounded it with period-appropriate worm-rail fencing.

"These are the things left behind by the families that let us know what they were going through," Eads says.

"This view is rare among national parks," Eads continues, as he looks out over the now-peaceful scene on an unusually cool late-spring day.

"One thing that is disturbing our viewshed are water towers and cell phone towers," he says as he looks south, toward the towns of Pea Ridge, Rogers and Fayetteville. But he admits there's not much anybody can do about it.

That leads to the question of modern structures on this historic site. The Cultural Landscape Report evaluates their existence versus why they were built. "Does (the overlook) help with the interpretation of the battle, or do we need to get rid of it?" Eads asks. "It allows us to tell the story," he answers.

He adds that the Visitor Center -- seen from the overlook -- is top-notch, a great interpretation tool. "But it sits right in the middle of the battlefield," he says. Moving the center might become part of a future proposal.

"The trails and visitor center were part of the master plan in 1963-1964," Eads says. "When establishing the park, they took a look at what was there and what needed to be done."

This year's Cultural Landscape Report will help preserve other areas of the park. Eads explains most modern features present different levels of disturbance. For example, the park includes historic roads as well as modern trails. Perhaps, these could be merged, and the modern trails removed, he says.

Building on an already-disturbed area causes less destruction than moving something to a totally undisturbed area, he says.

"Every time we take action, something results. It's a domino process," Eads says. And he admits the work never will be completed.

'Layers on layers'

"There are layers on layers," Eads says, using the roads for an example. Park staff utilizes roads they know played a part in the battle. Others, they're less certain about. Next to the tour road south of the East Overlook, Eads points out a historic road, which looks like nothing more than a muddy trail. "But we don't know if it was related to the battle," he says. "As we know more, steps will be taken to find out."

Historic structures listed in a cultural landscape inventory made in the early 1980s also must be updated and assessed, as listed in this year's report. As a result of the earlier inventory of the iconic Elkhorn Tavern, the sidewalks have been painted where fence would have run, Eads points out. The report also notes the site of the barn lies under the pavement.

The preferred alternative of the Cultural Landscape Report proposes moving the parking lot and paved road from the core area at Elkhorn Tavern to a site not visible from the historic area, repairing and restoring the historic roads to their appearance at the time of the battle, undertaking archeological studies to reveal outlying structures and replanting fields and gardens with appropriate crops or decorative plantings.

"Maybe there are things we could add or do with what's there help with interpretation," Eads says, mentioning opening to the public the original basement of the tavern. "(The plan) helps us consider what was here or what could have been here," he continues, noting a blacksmith shop, a cornfield and a corn crib.

The accepted alternative for preservation will become part of the park's long-range interpretive plan.

"The Cultural Landscape Report leads us to add things know we can do -- the tavern, fencing, the monuments, we know we have to preserve. These have a direct relation to battle," Eads says. "This is a cultural park with natural features. I believe the vegetation did dictate the roads, and the roads dictated the battle."

The park's enacting legislation charges park staff with preserving the site of the March 7-8, 1862, battle, interpreting the battle and providing for military study. The legislation instructs park administration to protect and develop the park into perpetuity.