Civil War marker sparks new conflict

Davis was commemorated a long way from home

By Janet Williams Seattle, Washington

The small marker at the side of the road appeared so innocent that he had not noticed it before.

The Daughters of the Confederacy wanted "Jefferson Davis" highways across the US

But for some reason he cannot remember, Hans Dunshee took a closer look - and was outraged.

So began a campaign which would inflame passions and loyalties dating back 140 years.

The monument is a stone marker in Peace Arch Park, in Washington state on the US-Canadian border.

It announces that the road leading south was named the Jefferson Davis Highway, commemorating the first and only President of the Confederacy, the short-lived government of the breakaway Southern states in the 1860s.

It had been erected, according to the inscription, by the "Washington Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy".

It's inappropriate to honour people who took up arms against their country

Hans Dunshee

Mr Dunshee, a member of the Washington state House of Representatives, felt there was no place for such a marker, especially in a state thousands of miles from the old South.

"Jefferson Davis was a traitor," he said.

"He led a civil war effort which tried to perpetuate slavery, and killed half a million Americans - our most deadly war, our most bloody war.

"It's inappropriate to honour people who took up arms against their country."

Mr Dunshee returned to the state capital in Olympia, and began gathering support to have the marker removed and the road renamed.

Hans Dunshee: "A traitor should not be honoured"

But he reckoned without those United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The UDC's local historian, Marjorie Ann Reeves, pretty and petite as any well-mannered Southern lady should be, is proud of her roots.

Her great-great-grandfather, James William Reeves, served with the 62nd Alabama, an infantry regiment formed in 1864.

Ms Reeves is now the careful custodian of several ancient, fragile scrapbooks commemorating reunions between the rivals of the blues and greys in the early decades of the last century.

She sees Representative Dunshee's campaign as yet another, but particularly hateful, attack on Southern heritage.

It was agreed upon and there's no reason to change history

Marjorie Ann Reeves

"Jefferson Davis did a lot for the United States", she said.

"He excelled in the Mexican war, served as a Senator, and as Secretary of War under President Pierce.

That's when he oversaw the building of roads here in Washington state, to expand the United States."

'Part of history'

And, she adds, the marker up at Blaine, on the Canadian border, has its own value - commemorating the massive effort by the women's organisation to dedicate highways to President Davis all the way across the country to Virginia.

"It's the history of Washington state. The people of Washington state put it there.

"It was agreed upon, and there's no reason to change history."

This is not the Daughters of Good Roads that is putting up this monument, it's the Daughters of the Confederacy

Hans Dunshee

Representative Dunshee will have none of it.

"If anyone can name any other Secretary of War who is honoured in such a way I'll give them a dollar.

"What he's remembered for, and what he's honoured for, is the Confederacy.

"This is not the Daughters of Good Roads that is putting up this monument, it's the Daughters of the Confederacy. It's about the Confederacy."

Marjorie Ann Reeves, however, is not without her backers.

Others have waded in, including the Washington Civil War Association, the Sons of the Union Veterans, and their counterparts on the Confederate side.

Jim Morgan: "He served both his countries, the US and the Confederacy"

Jim Morgan, of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, says the marker has nothing to do with racism or hate.

"The war itself did not start over slavery - the war started over various economic and political factors.

"The marker is simply a monument to a man who served his countries honourably - whether it was the United States or the Confederate States.

"He was never a traitor - his loyalty was to his state. They are saying that he's someone who should be hated, whose memory must be wiped from the planet - and this, I do not think is right.

"Southerners today are sick of being portrayed as racists, and bigots, when racism is not limited to one group, or even one race.

"There are bigots of any group, any race - a bigot is a bigot, regardless."

Confederate symbols disappearing

The removal of Confederate emblems is not without precedent - they have been coming down all across the country.

A marker for the Jefferson Davis Highway was dug up from Vancouver, in the south of Washington state, four years ago.

And, amid great publicity, the Confederate flag was finally taken down from the Capitol building in South Carolina, in June 2000.

Many Southerners are not happy about it.

The silhouette is George Washington, but the road was named for the man who broke up the US

Jim Morgan argues in measured terms. But when the story of the Jefferson Davis marker went nationwide, the reaction was far more vitriolic, especially from the South.

Representative Dunshee says that some of the e-mails and phone calls he received were so nasty, he had to ask the State Patrol to keep an eye on his house.

He says it is all a part of what he calls the neo-Confederate movement.

"The great wound of our country is racism - there are people in this country who are trying to revise history to glorify the Confederacy.

"And it's all part of racism and the white supremacist movement - it really is.

"It's sort of the gentle, leading edge, but it is part of the white supremacist movement."

Alternative suggestion

Mr Dunshee has put forward a new name for Route 99 (most of which has now become Interstate 5) - that of William P. Stewart, an African American who fought with the Union army, then settled in Washington state.

Mr Stewart's grave, in a picturesque cemetery in the town of Snohomish, is marked with a small, white tombstone, inscribed with his name and "29th US C I" - 29th US Coloured Infantry.

His descendants were delighted with the idea. But the move died a quiet death in the Senate Transportation Committee.

The Parks Commission, however, has removed the marker at Blaine, on the Canadian border, and put it in storage, pending further - no doubt heated - debate on its future.