The historic Ray House was an integral part of the Civil War Battle of
Wilson's Creek in southwestern Missouri and served as the Confederate field
hospital during the conflict. In order to facilitate the restoration of
the structure for service as an interpretative facility for the battle,
archeological excavations were undertaken during December, 1983.
Deposition of refuse, principally under the piered portions of the House,
appears to have been random. Furthermore, archeological investigation
revealed that vertical displacement of cultural materials, due in part to
annual freeze-thaw weather cycles, had bluffed temporal relationships
within the strata. Despite these problems, the collection does offer a
brief look at some of the facets of life at the Ray House, obtainable
through no other medium.
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