By AP
Oklahoma City, OK – Plans unveiled for center at Okla. Civil War site
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Plans are under way for a $1.9 million visitor's center at the site of Oklahoma's largest Civil War battlefield in northeast Oklahoma.
State and federal officials announced a partnership Monday to construct the site of the Battle of Honey Springs along the Muskogee and McIntosh county lines.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced about $1.1 million in grants and loans to help finance the project.
Oklahoma Historical Society Director Bob Blackburn says the 1863 battle was the largest of more than 100 engagements in Indian Territory during the Civil War. He noted it also was significant because of the large number of American Indian, African-American, and Hispanic troops that fought on each side.
Blackburn says the Union victory opened the way for Union occupation of Fort Smith, Ark.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.