CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Defenders of Blair Mountain held a rally in their continuing fight to preserve a battlefield from the West Virginia coal wars.

Organizers gathered Tuesday outside the Culture Center in Charleston and presented the State Historic Preservation Office with a petition bearing more than 26,000 signatures.

The mountain was the site of a 1921 battle between unionizing coal miners and law enforcement officers, including security forces hired by coal operators.

Retired miner Joe Stanley says it's important to the American labor movement and deserves to be protected from strip mining. But several past efforts have failed.

Archaeologist Brandon Nida says a new bus tour that stops in Blair and a museum opened by Friends of Blair Mountain demonstrate the mountain's tourism potential.