The Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park
A resolution commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Black Jack was passed by the Kansas Senate on May 1, 2006.
News
- Dr. Doug Scott, world-renowned battlefield archaeologist, headed a team that conducted a first stage archaeological study of the Black Jack Battlefield on May 4 and 5. Results of the survey will be reported here as they become available. Dr. Scott is well known for his study of the Little Bighorn Battlefield in the 1980s that rewrote the history of that famous battle. Among his many other accomplishments, he as done extensive work on the Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge National Battlefields in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas and the Sand Creek Massacre site in eastern Colorado. We are honored by his interest in the Black Jack Battlefield and feel it is another example of the importance of the Battle of Black Jack in American history.
Volunteer
Volunteer workdays are being held at the Black Jack Battlefield.
For a Google map showing the location, click here
(Near the intersection of E 2000th Road and N 175th Road, adjacent to the Robert Hall Pearson Park ).
Consult the Volunteers page on this website for details. For more information
or to volunteer, e-mail us at BJVolunteerCoord
We need your help to complete our goals, and to ensure that future generations can walk this hallowed ground. For more information, visit the Volunteers page on this website.
The Park
The Black Jack Battlefield and Nature Park is being developed on the site of the Battle of Black Jack, June 2, 1856. The goal is to protect it from the suburban growth that threatens to destroy the very land where John Brown and Henry Clay Pate fought the first battle in the conflict that was the American Civil War.
The park will help tell the story of the unique role that the Battle played in our shared history. By utilizing the historic Robert Hall Pearson House, it will also tell the story of a late 19th Century farmstead and the effects of Manifest Destiny on the land and people. Finally, it will preserve wildlife habitat and provide a place to experience the beauty and tranquility of a natural Kansas landscape in an area undergoing rapid urbanization.
150th Anniversary Event
Through a concerted effort, the Battlefield was saved from residential development in 2003. Through an equally concerted effort, a dedicated group of individuals worked to have the park dedicated on June 2, 2006, the 150th anniversary of the Battle. For more information on events surrounding the sesquicentennial of the battle, visit the 150th Anniversary page on this website.
For a printable event schedule for the 150th Anniversary Commemoration activities, Friday, June 2, and Saturday, June 3, 2006 -
click here (a new window will open).
To access a brochure on the battle and battlefield in PDF format,
click here. (A new window will open)
To access the most recent issue of The Black Jack Battlefield Courier, our e-mail newsletter, in PDF format,
click here. (A new window will open)