Writing about Island Mound

The commemoration of the 137th anniversary of Island Mound - conducted by the Amen Society in 1999, was really the start of the renewed awareness in this historical event.  Also, as a result of the interview I conducted with Jim Fisher and the article he wrote  several individuals from across the country reached out to me about my research and Island Mound.

I determined that I needed to write about Island Mound.

At first, I thought I would either write an article for publication in a historical journal or one of the magazines dedicated to the American Civil War - or I might write a longer, more in depth book on the subject. However, as my intent was to increase awareness at a grass-roots level in western Missouri and eastern Kansas - I decided to focus my efforts on writing a monograph detailing the results of my research.

Once I completed writing the monograph (and the multiple, necessary revisions/edits) I contacted the Blue and Gray Book Shoppe in Independence, Mo. about self-publishing the manuscript through them. In April 2001, the monograph was finally published.

Consisting of 33 pages that include the results of my research aw well as maps that I created regarding the engagement, the monograph became an important vehicle to "get the word out" as I conducted interviews and gave presentations to organizations across the state of Missouri and eastern Kansas.

From 2000 to 2005,  I gave interviews to newspaper reporters and gave radio interviews (even appeared on Mayor Emmanuel Cleaver's "Under the Clock" radio show). I  also posted to Civil War Message Boards, spoke to various Civil War Roundtables and County Historical Societies. All with the ultimate goal of "getting the word out" and hopefully to someday see a state or federal park on the land that was the Toothman farm and the battle site where people would be able to go and learn about this historic event.

As life will have it, in 2006 my family and I moved to Katy, Texas (in the greater Houston area) and I knew that my ability to remain heavily involved in "getting the word out" and working to get the battlefield preserved would be much more difficult from Texas - some 700 miles away.

As such I decided to donate the "Skirmish at Island Mound" monograph to the Bates County Historical Society and Museum for them to take up the mantle of "getting the word out" and as a possible source of revenue for them.

The monograph is no longer available on Amazon.com, but can still be purchased through the Bates County Historical Society and Museum as well as through Missouri State Parks.

As I've continued my research I've learned even more about Island Mound and the men who fought there on both sides - enough that a 2nd edition of the monograph is long overdue.