Day 23-Fort Smith, Prairie Grove, Fayetteville

After a relaxing start to our day at the Mount Magazine State Park we headed for Fort Smith which is the third largest city in Arkansas.

 Fort Smith, overlooking the Arkansas River, was built in 1817 in order to keep peace between the Osage Tribe who were native to this area and the Cherokee Tribe who were displaced under the U.S. Government’s policy of relocation all Native Americans to the lands west of the Mississippi. 

This fort was abandoned in 1824, however, in 1838 a new fort was built on the same location as the original.  This new fort was intended to provide protection from Indian attack, but that never materialized.  The fort became a trading depot receiving steamboats from both St. Louis and New Orleans.  

 

During the Civil War, the fort saw no military actions.  In 1861 after Fort Sumter was attacked, the Arkansas legislature voted to secede from the Union, so the federal troops who were stationed at Fort Smith abandoned it.  The Confederacy held the fort for two years before abandoning it to Union troops who held it for the remainder of the war.  

 

After the Civil War the Fort continued to play a significant role as westward migration continued to bring settlers and more and more displaced Indians came in contact with these settlers. 

The U.S. Court for the Western District of Arkansas, with its seat at Fort Smith, is unique in the history of federal tribunals. At the height of its influence, it held a vast jurisdiction-about 74,000 square miles-over land that was home to thousands of American Indians and an increasing number of residents who were not tribal members.

 

The Fort Smith court's enormous caseload arose from a complex web of overlapping jurisdictions. While tribal courts had authority over their own members, others living in Indian Territory were protected or prosecuted underU.S. law. Any case involving a person who was not legally a tribal member fell to the federal court's jurisdiction.

For quite a while the U.S. Marshalls were not allowed to pursue any criminals into the Indian Territory, and as a result it became a Mecca for all types of killers, thieves, and other scoundrels.

Complaints about its distant location, lack of funding and personnel, and huge caseload plagued the Fort Smith court. Not even the efficiency and even-handed justice of Judge Isaac C. Parker could curb criminal activity in Indian Territory.

Judge Isaac Parker's tenure on the bench (1875-1896) coincided with the post-Civil War turmoil and dramatic changes affecting Indian Territory.  During his 21 years in FortSmith, the court handled over 12,000 criminal cases.  Known as “Hangin’ Judge Parker” the film Hang ‘Em High was based on Judge Parker.  A replica of the gallows used for many Judge Parker’s hanging stands on the historic site’s grounds.

The novel True Grit, written in 1968 by Arkansas author Charles Portia, is based on the true story of 14-year-old Mattie Ross. In her efforts to see the man who shot and killed her father brought to justice, she employs Deputy Rooster Cogburn to find the suspect.

As a frontier town on the crossroads of rail, river, and wagon train traffic, Fort Smith became a haven for bars and brothels, the most famous being Miss Laura's which still stands today.  Tours are available, but we passed.

After touring Fort Smith, we stopped for lunch at the Bricktown Brewery where we had a delicious lunch.  Joni had a fried chicken sandwich and I had a BBQ chicken salad.

Moving on from Fort Smith we drove to the Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park.  This Civil War battle took place on December 7, 1862 and played a significant role in preventing the Confederacy from moving into Missouri, and ultimately capturing St. Louis.  At the visitors’ center we watched a short film, and then took a very informative self guided auto tour around the battlefield.

We next headed to Fayetteville to check out the Razorbacks football stadium and the first home of Bill and Hillary Clinton, where Bill taught law at the University of Arkansas.  Fortunately we missed graduation by a day, so the campus was deserted and driving around it was easy.

Before heading for our campsite at Wthrow Springs State Park we gassed our van and grabbed frozen custard dinners at Andy’s, a popular dessert chain throughout the South. 

Again we failed to comply with the 330 rule.  We only drove 181 miles, but we didn’t make to our campsite until 7:00 PM.  This is our 5^th night in an Arkansas state park campground and we must state they are all extremely well maintained.

 

Joni wants to add that she had a very enjoyable Mother’s Day.  In addition to seeing some very interesting historical locales, and despite our continual movement, she spoke with all three of our sons.