|
|||||
| |
By Judy Packer-Tursman, Blade Washington Bureau
The Blade (Toledo, OH)
09-26-96
True to his recent pledge, Ohio Republican Sen. Mike DeWine introduced legislation yesterday to establish the Fallen Timbers Battlefield, Fort Meigs, and Fort Miamis a National Historic Site, affiliated with the National Park Service.
"This is one of the most historically significant parcels of real estate in the state of Ohio. It deserves to be protected and preserved for our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren," he said.
Mr. DeWine had promised local politicians and historical society members during an Aug. 22 visit to Fallen Timbers that he would draft a bill seeking federal protection for the site.
U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) yesterday introduced a companion bill in the House. She stressed that the bill requires consent of property owners before any land can be included in the historical site - and land-use control remains local.
Creating a historic site of the three areas is a way "to recognize these significant sites: to link them together in a way they are not now linked [because] they are three sites that are linked historically," said G. Michael Pratt, a professor of anthropology at Heidelberg College in Tiffin. Dr. Pratt's archaeological studies determined that most of the battlefield was 185 acres near U.S. 24 and I-475.
In 1794, the U.S. Army was moving into northwest Ohio, an area with a strong British presence. Fort Miamis, at what is now Michigan Street and River Road in Maumee, was built to protect the British army and its Native American allies, Dr. Pratt said.
Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne was dispatched to the area by George Washington, and the general's defeat of the Indians at Fallen Timbers led to the Treaty of Greenville, which opened the Northwest Territory to settlement by citizens of the new nation.
During the War of 1812, the British -- again based at Fort Miamis -- launched two unsuccessful sieges of Fort Meigs, on the east side of the Maumee River.
The three sites also are important for their link to Tecumseh, "who is probably the most respected Indian leader, by Native Americans and non-Native Americans," Dr. Pratt said.
At Fallen Timbers, Tecumseh was a rising star, Dr. Pratt said. In 1813, he led Native Americans against the Americans at Fort Meigs. At Fort Miamis, he saved American prisoners from being massacred by Indian warriors, which "became his great humanitarian gesture."
Senator DeWine's 10-page proposal is not a land purchase and includes no federal funding. Its stated purpose is to:
"It will be good for the community," said Perrysburg Mayor Reeve Kelsey.
Maumee Mayor Steve Pauken said: "This is what we've been working for the last three years. I think it is in our best interest as a region to promote this asset . It will become as important an asset as the art museum, the zoo, the Mud Hens."
The city of Toledo owns the land, which is in Maumee.
Maumee and a coalition of historic groups have proposed buying the land for $15,000 an acre, but Toledo officials have said that amount is too low.
"We'd be willing [to sell] if they're willing to pay the price we think it's worth. We have an appraisal that says it's worth $50,000 an acre," said Walter Edelen, director of the Toledo-Lucas County plan commissions.
"We invested taxpayers' dollars and we have an obligation to do the best we can for them."
Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner has offered to donate 15 acres for a memorial and interpretive center, Mr. Edelen said.
Mayor Finkbeiner could not be reached for comment last night.
The battleground is next to an area under option by developers who want to build a mall. But that is not what the city intends for the site, Mr. Edelen said.
"Obviously, you have to be very careful about how you develop it, if you do. We all realize the significance of the site," he said.
Mr. DeWine said Congress and the local communities must proceed on "parallel tracks" on Fallen Timbers, explaining his bill "does not interfere in any way" with negotiations between Maumee and Toledo to buy the land.
"We encourage those [negotiations] to continue," Mr. DeWine said. "By the terms of the legislation, whoever owns the property is protected. We anticipate negotiations between Toledo and Maumee will ... be resolved."
Mr. Pauken agreed.
"I can't go to church on Sunday or to the drugstore without people saying, 'How are you doing on Fallen Timbers?'" he said. "This is the kind of thing the people of northwest Ohio want to pursue."
Mr. DeWine said he does not expect the legislation to pass in the waning days of the 104th Congress. But he said it will "start discussions." He plans to reintroduce the measure in January "and move forward."
"This is the type of legislation that I think is appropriate as we go into the next century," Mr. DeWine said. "It's going to be a rare occasion where government actually buys lands for national parks. Instead, it will be a cooperative effort" between the federal government and local community.
Ohio has two of 72 National Historic Sites affiliated with the National Park Service: the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor and the William Howard Taft National Historic Site in Cincinnati. Those locations are part of a 369-site system of battlefields, monuments, parkways, preserves, and recreation areas nationwide.
The National Historic Site designation derives from the Historic Site Act of 1935 and applies to such locations as forts and the birthplaces of notable Americans.
NOTICE: This article, which may be copyrighted, is reprinted with specific permission granted to Heidelberg College. Further reprint rights must be secured from the publisher.
Heidelberg College / Office of College Relations
/ webmaster@heidelberg.edu