Six Hours at Wilson’s Creek

August 10, 1861

Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield 

Junior Ranger Booklet
To become a Junior Ranger, complete as many activities as your 

time in the park permits. If you have only an hour, complete the 

pages with the pocket watch. If you have longer than an hour, do 

as many pages as possible, especially those with the mantle clock.

Begin your visit in the exhibit area of the visitor center, completing 

the activities there as you go. If time permits, and we encourage 

you to do so, watch the twenty-eight minute film then begin your 

trip into the park. Be sure to get a token to enter the tour road. 

When you have finished your booklet, ask a ranger (or volunteer) 

to look it over. You will then be awarded a Junior Ranger Badge. 

Learn, have fun and do a fantastic job. 

How much time do you have? 

If you have an hour 

If you have more than an hour 

Written & Designed by Park Ranger Mary Beth Breshears and Volunteer Betsy Oglesbee
Visitor Center

The Arrowhead is the symbol of the National Park Service. 

Look for the Arrowheads in the Visitor Center. 

What do you think each symbol on the Arrowhead represents?

1. The Bison __________________________________________

2. The Sequoia Tree ____________________________________

3. The Water __________________________________________

4. The Mountain _______________________________________

5. The Arrowhead ______________________________________

Exhibit Area

As you enter the exhibit area, find the photo of the slave with the 

scarred back. 

What do you think happened to him?_______________________

Who do you think might have done this?_____________________

How do you feel about that?______________________________
___ Mrs. Ray’s daughter 

who died the spring 

after the battle.

___ Medal of Honor 

Recipient at Wilson’s 

Creek

___ Missouri State Guard 

Commander

___ Treated the wounded at 

Wilson’s Creek

___ First Union General 

killed in the Civil War

___ Took command after 

General Lyon was killed

___ Led the German troops 

at the Battle of Wilson’s 

Creek

___ Missouri Secessionist 

Governor

Exhibit Area

As you walk among the exhibits, you will pass many photos with really good stories. As you read them, match the 

person to an important part of his or her story. 

A. Claiborne Jackson

B. Franz Sigel

C. Samuel Sturgis

D. Nathaniel Lyon

E. Sterling Price

F. Anna Elizabeth Steele

G. Samuel Melcher

H. William Wherry
Into the Park

Make sure you have plenty of water as 

you walk the trails at Wilson’s Creek.

Tour Stop #1

Take a side trip on the trail at Tour Stop #1. While hiking the trail, 

look for plants and animals along the way. Describe different 

things that you see along the trail and try to identify them. Put an 

X on each one you see. Try to locate the mill race and look for the 

cellar foundation. 

Civil War battlefields host a wide range of wildlife that may or may 

not have been here more than 150 years ago.

Today you can find white-tailed deer along the tour road. View 

wildflowers, including the threatened Missouri bladder-pod, 

growing along the trails. Search for migrating warblers and hawks 

throughout the park. 

Remember: Take Only Pictures & Leave Only Footprints
Olivia’s Story

“Papa, Papa!,” screamed the two children in unison. “A 

soldier just rode by and told us that there is going to be 

fighting in 10 minutes!”

Mama stepped out on the porch where Papa was sitting with the 

baby in his lap. “Come in quickly, John! Let’s get the children into 

the cellar!”

“Oh, Roxanna,” Papa said. “He was trying to scare the children.”

But, moments later we saw a black line on the ridge across the 

valley which could only be soldiers on the march. My name is 

Olivia, and I was only seven years old on that hot, August day. I 

knew something very big was about to happen.

Mama rushed us children and Aunt Rhoda our slave, with her 

children to the cellar. We hadn’t even had breakfast yet! Mama 

grabbed the biscuits from the hearth and all 14 of us headed for 

the cellar where we stayed until the fighting was over. When we 

came back up around noon, what a sight met our eyes! There were 

wounded and dying men all over our house and yard. Mama and 

Aunt Rhoda quickly began to help with bandages and we children 

spent the day running back and forth to the springhouse for water. 

When the day was over, I had seen things that I will remember if I 

live to be 82!

Stop #2 - The Ray 

Draw a picture of what you think Olivia and 

her brothers and sisters saw and did when 

they came out of the cellar that day. 
Ray House Search (if you get to go on a tour)

What items would the children have been in charge of? 

What items would Mrs. Ray or Rhoda have probably used? 

What would have been your favorite item to use and why?

What would you have least wanted to be in charge of?

Do you have any similar chores?

As a wedding gift for her first marriage, Roxanne 

was given two small children, Rhoda and Wiley. 

Rhoda would continue being Mrs. Ray’s slave 

until she was freed in 1865. She and her children 

were present along with the Ray children during 

the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. They would all 

spend the morning of the battle hiding in the 

cellar under the Ray’s house. 

After being granted her freedom, why would Rhoda come back to 

help Mrs. Ray when she was sick in 1876?

Rhoda

What do you think it would be like to be a slave?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tour Stop #3

Hike up the hill to the Pulaski Battery and read the Wayside.

What was the purpose of this 

cannon battery?

Tour Stop #6

Look at the two cannons. One has a number of markings on it. 

After looking at the markings, what do you think the letters 

H.N.H. & CO stand for?

________________________________________________________________________________

Now, hike down the hill to the Edwards 

Cabin. You will cross the Iron Bridge, built 

about 1910, fifty years after the battle. 

Who did the cabin belong to, who used it 

during the battle and what was it used for? 

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

___________________________________

___________________________________ 
A Battlefield Maze

Help the lost soldier find his way back to his unit on Bloody Hill.
Tour Stop #7 Bloody Hill

As you stand at the top of Bloody Hill, think about a hot August day with cannons blasting, rifles flaring, people screaming and dying, and horses galloping around the battlefield. 

Think about what it would have been like for those people. 

Now walk the trail to Totten’s Battery. 

Look at the cannons. Why are they 

positioned as they are? 

How different would it sound 

and smell on Bloody Hill that 

day than it is does today? 

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________
Continue your walk to the sinkhole. Read the sign and write what 

it was used for on that August day. 

Why do you think it was used? 

Make your way on around to 

the Lyon monument. Read the 

inscription. Who is it honoring?

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________
A Letter From A Very Young Soldier

After visiting Bloody Hill, finish this letter that the soldier 

might have written to his mother telling her what he saw, 

It has been a most exciting and exhausting day! We started our march from Springfield toward the Confederate lines near Wilson’s Creek under the stars and lay down only for a short while on the dew damp prairie grass. Just before dawn, we resumed the march with a boy’s enthusiasm and anticipation of a big time and opportunity to fire all the cartridges I chose. Just as the sun’s first rays were gilding the tips of the scruboaks, we heard the opening of the fire from Sigel’s guns, which we answered with a cheer. Then we

Evening, August 10. 1861

Dearest Mother,
_____40 Dead Men

_____Pig Sticker

_____Bones

_____Johnny Reb

_____Grub

_____Housewife

_____Greenback

_____Minié Ball

_____Standard

_____Billy Yank

_____Haversack

_____Hardtack

Do you know? 

Write the number of the item next to the 

Civil War slang name that it matches.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12
Glossary (Important words you should know)

Battery A grouping of cannons

Billy Yank Slang name for a Union soldier

Bones Dice

Cannon A large, heavy piece of artillery usually mounted 

on a carriage

Cellar A room below ground typically used for storage

Chamber Pot A bowl kept under the bed used for a toilet, usually 

at night

40 Dead Men A cartridge box holds 40 cartridges (ammunition)

Grub Soldiers’ term for food

Hardtack Dry cracker used for rations (food for the soldiers)

Haversack Canvas bag used by soldiers to carry food and 

personal items

Housewife Homemade sewing kit

Johnny Reb Slang name for a Confederate soldier

Lucifers Matches

Minié Ball Type of bullet invented by Claude-Étienne Minié

Pig Sticker Slang for a knife or short sword

Slave A person who is the property of another person, 

must obey them and has no freedom to move about 

as they choose

Shackles Heavy metal rods or chains used to fasten a slave’s 

wrists or ankles together

Sawbones Surgeon

Slum Soup made of pork, hardtack, etc.

Slum Burner Army Cook
For more Civil War sites in the area:

If you have time, go into Springfield to the 

National Cemetery located at 1702 E. Seminole (corner of Glenstone and Seminole) 

www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/springfield.asp

Find the Civil War section of the cemetery. 

Locate the section that represents the Battle of Wilson’s Creek. 

How are the gravestones of the unknown soldiers different from 

the other stones? 

Find the Confederate section and look for Sterling Price’s statue. 

What does the inscription say? 

The Battle of Springfield, January 8, 1863

Guides are available in the 

Wilson’s Creek Visitor Center

www.springfield1863.org
As a Junior Ranger, I promise to:

1. Learn more about different battles in the Civil War.

2. Show respect for those who made sacrifices for their country 

during wartime. 

3. Leave plants, animals and historical objects in the park as I 

found them.

4. Explore other National Parks and take pride in them! Help keep 

them clean, safe and beautiful for everyone.

Junior Ranger

This Award is Presented to:

_______________________________________________________________

For participation and commitment to the Junior Ranger Motto: 

“Explore, Learn, Protect”

_____________________________________ ____________________

Park Ranger Date

Most National Park Service sites have Junior Ranger programs. 

Make sure that you ask when you visit one of the over 400 

National Park sites. If you cannot visit them all, continue your 

adventure by going to WebRangers at www.nps.gov/webrangers 

for more fun, games and activities.