Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1541, legislation that would strike a prohibition in the Fort Scott National Historic Site's enabling law that prohibited the incorporation of the structure…
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1541, legislation that would strike a prohibition in the Fort Scott National Historic Site's enabling law that prohibited the incorporation of the structure known as the Lunette Blair blockhouse into the site's formation.
Fortunately, the blockhouse still sits right across the street from the historic site, where, under the future care of the National Park Service, it can remain on display in perpetuity without disrupting the grounds' antebellum view shed, successfully linking the site's frontier fort structures with the community's Civil War legacy.
Located in the historic town of Fort Scott, Kansas, the Fort Scott National Historic Site preserves the important story of the original frontier fort's role in nineteenth-century America. It serves as a physical snapshot of the pioneer days of westward migration of a young republic, from its initial construction 175 years ago, and portrays a figurative stepping-stone upon the prairie toward a transcontinental nation.
However, the story of the community of Fort Scott continues from that point on as the town grew around the shuttered fort of the same name. The community's history itself invokes the violent struggles of the era we all know as Bleeding Kansas and the conflicts of the Civil War.
After the U.S. Army demobilized Fort Scott in 1853 following the collapse of a permanent Indian frontier, private residents purchased the last of its property; the buildings of the old fort became the new town. Soon after, Americans of opposing sentiments, abolitionists, free-staters, and Border Ruffians alike, settled the area throughout the rest of the decade in turmoil. While the territory of Kansas ultimately became the free state of Kansas on January 29, 1861, violent conflict soon engulfed the entire nation.
During the Civil War, the Union Army militarized the town of Fort Scott to store Union supplies and to deter Confederate invasions into Southeast Kansas. The Union Army constructed many fortifications in the surrounding area, including four garrisoned blockhouses, or ``lunettes,'' fortified structures with designated names, such as Fort Lincoln, Fort Insley, Fort Henning, and Fort Blair, in order to house soldiers and armaments while protecting the town's approach.
While these structures successfully deterred such attacks, the U.S. War Department considered these four blockhouses as surplus property after the Civil War and sold them at auction to private individuals. The structure called Fort Blair, known locally today as Lunette Blair is the sole remaining Civil War blockhouse standing today.
Mr. Speaker, it is only through the diligent stewardship of the citizens of Fort Scott, Kansas, and their dedication to preserve the community's heritage, that the Lunette Blair blockhouse still stands after all these years.
Members of the Fort Scott community support the donation of the blockhouse to the National Park Service and this proposal is in line with the sites' overall mission: to tell the encompassing story of Fort Scott's role in westward migration and to demonstrate the community's contribution in preserving our Union during the Civil War.
