The same week that the press release was issued The Missouri Bushhwacker Blog received information that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources had suddenly developed an intrest in the town of Osceola, Missouri and that they were wanting to put up plaques around the town stating that Kansas Jayhawker Jim Lane did not burn it in 1861. As hard as this might be to believe I also received a report saying that the Missouri DNR even suggested that if anyone did burn the town it was Missouri Bushwhackers!

A friend of mine emailed his state represenative about this, who in turn, contacted the Missouri DNR, who in turn contacted my friend. They were quick to issue the following statement denying everything:

"From: Jim Denny [mailto:jim.denny@dnr.mo.gov]
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 2:23 PM
To: Jason Coffman
Subject: DNR markers in Osceola, MO



Dear Mr. Coffman,

Representative Ervin's office forwarded a email you recently sent
expressing a concern that this agency was engaged in rewriting the
history of James Lane's involvement in the Burning Osceola.  In this
email you expressed concern that we were intending to place signs
around
the Osceola area stating that is was Missouri Bushwhackers and not Lane
who were responsible for the atrocities at Osceola.  I manage the Civil
War Marker program, and I want to personally tell you that we have no
intention of placing any markers at Osceola which state that Lane did
not burn Osceola and that Missouri Bushwhackers were responsible for
this outrage.  I think this misunderstanding arises from a comment that
our consultant on the Osceola Civil War marker project, Bill Fannin,
made regarding an account from Moore's Rebellion Record by a
participant
who stated that it was the Jayhawker, James Montgomery, who led the
detachment into Osceola and did the burning and looting.  Bill has
talked to folks down in Osceola including Rick Reed, who is a member of
the SCV, and Richard Sunderwirth, who is compiling a book on the
destruction of Osceola.  He has concluded that the above referenced
account is one of many accounts of the incident and does not
definitively establish that Lane wasn't there.  His approach will be to
discuss Lane's swath of destruction in the raid that included the
attack
on Osceola, and to make the point loud and clear that this kind of
activity was not a heroic act on Lane's part but unwarranted attack on
Missourians and their lives and property that was entirely unwarranted.
In fact, as many Union reports state, Jayhawker incursions into
Missouri
did more damage to efforts by Federal authorities to gain popular
loyalty to the Union cause in Missouri than anything the enemy was
doing.    

It may interest you to know that we are also having a marker panel
prepared that discusses the formation of the First Missouri Confederate
Brigade at Price's Sac River encampment.  I also want to assure you
that
we are working in cooperative manner with Mr. Rick Reed (417-646-2240)
of Osceola, and that we have agreed to provide him with drafts of the
text for both the Lane and Confederate Brigade panels before either are
committed to production.  You may call him to verify the truth of my
statement.  In any event, I wanted to inform you that we try to steer a
middle ground between the passionate and committed pro-Southern and
pro-Unionist groups who very closely scrutinize every panel we produce
to make sure we are not favoring one side over the other.  If we did
play favorites, our program would not have survived its first year of
existence.  As it is, we have been around for some 17 years and have
located 20 markers to date all over the state and have many more
planned.  

If you have further questions or concerns, I hope you will feel free to
contact me.

Best regards,
Jim Denny
Historian" 

While this is certainly a logical explanation, I'm not buying it. First of all I find it more than a little ironic that the Missouri DNR developed this sudden interest in Osceola, Missouri shortly after the Coffee Camp issued their press release.

Perhaps the fact that the heritage tour and dinner drew 180 dignitaries, from 10 states , (one being a presidential candidate) who toured the area and heard the stories of Union atrocities, and the fact during the dinner best selling author Donnie Kennedy,who spoke on Constitutional Law, and made comparisons between Lincoln, Marx and Hitler (Hitler and Marx were admirers of Lincoln and were inspired by his actions and atrocites toward the South),and who was interupted several times with applause and a standing ovation, is making the Missouri DNR nervous.

Before you think that maybe the Missouri Department of Natural Resources is just trying to be "even handed" let me remind you the reader of something...

Who took down the Confederate flags at Higgnsville and Pilot Knob ,Missouri?

"Confederate flags were removed from Missouri’s two Civil War historic sites in January 2003 when Missouri Department of Natural Resources Director Steve Mahfood ordered them taken down."

- Vox Magazine

I also remember talking to an owner of a building with historic significance a few years back. The owner also had a gift shop and displayed Confederate flags at his site.

According to the owner, not long after he started displaying the Confederate flags, guess who showed up? Yep the Missouri DNR. Guess what they wanted? Yep to display a plaque on his site that basically stated that the War in Missouri was fought over slavery.

Thank God this was private property and that the owner told them to take a hike!

Let's hope the citizens of Osceola do not buy what the Missouri DNR is trying to sell them either!

Clint, Missouri Bushwhacker

Questions,comments or news tips? Email me at: clintlacy2@yahoo.com

related:

The Missouri Wall of Shame