Isaac Charles Parker -- The Hanging Judge

Isaac Charles Parker (1838–1896) served as federal judge for the Federal Court of the Western District of Arkansas in Fort Smith. He tried 13,490 cases, with 9,454 of them resulting in guilty pleas or convictions. His court was unique in the fact that he had jurisdiction over all of Indian Territory, covering over 74,000 square miles. He sentenced 160 people to death, including 4 women. Of those sentenced to death under Parker, 79 men were executed on the gallows.

Born on October 15, 1838, in Barnesville, Ohio, he was the youngest son of a farme.  His mother was known for her strong mental qualities, business habits and strong Methodist upbringing. Parker attributed his success to the way he was raised by his mother. Once he completed his primary education, he attended Barnesville Classical Institute, a private school and taught in a country school to pay for his education.

At 17, he decided to study law and apprenticed under a Barnesville lawyer, studied on his own, and passed the bar in 1859. He began his legal career with his uncle in St. Joseph, Missouri, and by 1861, he was on his own. He married Mary O'Toole on Dec 12, 1861. He won election as the city attorney on the Democratic ticket in April 1861, but had been in office only a few days when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted in the Sixty-first Missouri Emergency Regiment, a home guard unit for the Union forces.

Breaking from the Democratic party, Parker ran for county prosecutor of the Ninth Missouri Judicial District on the Republican ticket. He also served as a member of the Electoral College (he cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln) in the election of 1864. He served 2 terms in Congress, elected in 1870 and 1872. While in Congress, he assisted veterans of his district in securing pensions, lobbied for construction of a new federal building in St. Joseph, sponsored legislation that would have allowed women the right to vote and hold public office in US territories.

He also sponsored legislation that would have organized the Indian Territory under a formal territorial government. It was during his second term that his speeches supporting the Bureau of Indian Affairs received national attention. He put most of his effort into Indian policy and the fair treatment of the tribes that were living in the Indian Territory. It was after his second term in Congress that he began to seek a presidential appointment as judge of the Western District of Arkansas in Fort Smith. On March 18, 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him to the position.

Parker arrived in Fort Smith on May 4, 1875, and held court for the first time on May 10, 1875. During his first term, he found 8 men guilty of murder; 6 of them died on Sept 3, 1875, on the gallows at Fort Smith.

Parker’s court was supposed to hold 4 terms each year: February, May, August, and November.  However, the caseload was so large that the 4 terms ran together. Parker held court 6 days a week, each day often lasting up to 10 hours.

In 1883, Congress gave jurisdiction of some portions of the Indian Territory to Texas and Kansas, providing some relief to Parker’s court. There was, however, a continuous stream of settlers into the Indian Territory, over which he still had jurisdiction, and the crime rate increased.

Over the years, Parker became involved in the community of Fort Smith. At his urging, the government gave the majority of the 300-acre military reservation to the city in 1884 to fund the public school system. He also served as the first board president of Saint John’s Hospital, and he was active on the school board. His wife was also involved in social activities, and their sons, James and Charles, attended the public school which their father had helped to establish.

Along with his duties on the bench, he was often called to testify in front of Congress or substitute for other federal judges.  He not only heard capitala cases, but tried several civil cases.

On February 6, 1889, Congress took the circuit court authority from the federal court at Fort Smith and allowed the US Supreme Court to review all capital crimes. Until this time, the president was the only person with the power to commute sentences; however, now the Supreme Court could overturn cases as well. The Courts Act of 1889, established a federal court system in the Indian Territory, again decreasing the size of Parker’s jurisdiction. The Supreme Court began to reverse the capital crimes tried in Fort Smith; 2/3 of the cases that were appealed were sent back to Fort Smith for a new trial.

Often called the "Hanging Judge,” at the time, capital offenses of rape and murder were punished by death. However, it was not for the judge to decide guilt, that was left up to the jury. Parker actually had no say in whether a person was to be hanged.

In an interview published on Sept 1, 1896, in the St Louis Republic, Parker is quoted as saying, “I never hung a man. It is the law,” adding, “I favor the abolition of capital punishment, too. Provided that there is a certainty of punishment, whatever that punishment may be. In the uncertainty of punishment following crime lies the weakness of our ‘halting crime.’”

When the August 1896 term began, Parker was too ill to preside. Reporters interviewing Parker about the end of his jurisdiction over Indian Territory had to do so at his bedside. Parker died on November 17, 1896, of numerous health problems, including degeneration of the heart and Bright’s Disease. He is buried in the Fort Smith National Cemetery.

Bass Reeves, US Deputy Marshall -- is he the basis for the Lone Ranger?

Born to slave parents in 1838 in Crawford County Arkansas, Bass Reeves would become the first black US Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi River and one of the greatest frontier heroes in our nation’s history.

Owned by William Reeves, a farmer and politician, Bass, like many slaves of the time, took the surname of his owner.

At 6’2”, with good manners and a sense of humor, George Reeves, William's son, made him his personal companion. When the Civil War broke out, Texas sided with the Confederacy and George Reeves went into battle, taking Bass with him.

It was during the Civil War that Bass, for some unknown reason, left Reeves and fled to Indian Territory where he took refuge with the Seminole and Creek. It was here he practiced and perfected his firearm skills. Though Reeves claimed to be "only fair” with a rifle, he was barred on a regular basis from competitive turkey shoots.

"Freed” by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and no longer a fugitive, Reeves left Indian Territory and bought land near Van Buren, Arkansas.  A successful farmer and rancher, he married Nellie Jennie.  They raised 10 children on their homestead -- 5 girls and 5 boys.

Reeve’s life as a contented farmer was about to change when Isaac C. Parker was appointed judge for the Federal Western District Court at Fort Smith, Arkansas on May 10, 1875. At the time Parker was appointed, Indian Territory had become extremely lawless as thieves, murderers, and anyone else wishing to hide from the law, took refuge in the territory that previously had no federal or state jurisdiction.

One of Parker's first official acts was to appoint US Marshal James F. Fagan as head of a unit of 200 deputies tasked with "cleaning up” Indian Territory and on Judge Parker's orders, "Bring them in alive --- or dead!"  Fagan was to hire his own men and heard of Bass Reeves' knowledge of the area, as well as his ability to speak several tribal languages, and recruited him as a US Deputy.

Reeves began to ride the Oklahoma range in search of outlaws. Covering some 75,000 square miles, the United States Court at Fort Smith, was the largest in the nation. Leaving Fort Smith, he would generally take with him a wagon, a cook and a Native American posse man. Often the trip took them to Fort Reno, Fort Sill and Anadarko, a round trip of more than 800 miles.

Reeves could not read or write and before he headed out, he would have someone read him the warrants and he would memorize them. When asked to produce the warrant, he never failed to pick out the correct one.

He rode a large white stallion and earned a reputation for his courage and success at bringing in or killing many desperadoes of the territory. He was a "spiffy" dresser, a large hat, his boots always shined. He was known for his polite and courteous manner. A master of disguises and aliases, he often appeared as a cowboy, farmer, gunslinger, or outlaw. He was ambidextrous when it came to shooting and wore 2 Colt pistols, butt forward -- rarely missed.

Leaving Fort Smith with a pocketful of warrants, Reeves would return months later herding a number of outlaws charged with crimes ranging from bootlegging to murder. Paid in fees and rewards, he made a handsome profit, spent a little time with his family and returned to the range.

The tales of his captures are legendary – filled with intrigue, imagination and courage. Though the tales of Reeves’ heroics are many and varied, the toughest manhunt for the lawman was that of hunting down his own son. After having delivered two prisoners to U.S. Marshal Leo Bennett in Muskogee, Oklahoma, he arrived to bad news. His own son had been charged with the murder of his wife. Though the warrant had been lying on Bennett’s desk for two days, the other deputies were reluctant to take it and though Reeves was shaken, he demanded to accept the responsibility for finding his son. Two weeks later, Reeves returned to Muskogee with his son in tow and turned him over to Marshal Bennett. His son was tried and sent to Kansas’ Leavenworth Prison. However, sometime later, with a citizen’s petition and an exemplary prison record, his son was pardoned and lived the rest of his life as a model citizen.

In 1907, law enforcement was assumed by state agencies and Reeves’ duties as a deputy marshal came to an end. He took a job as a patrolman with the Muskogee Oklahoma Police Department. During his 2 years on the force, there were no crimes reported on his beat. A diagnosis of Bright’s disease finally ended his career. He died January 12, 1910.  The location of his grave in Muskogee is unknown.

Over the 35 years that Bass Reeves served as a Deputy United States Marshal, he brought in more than 3,000 outlaws and killed 14.

Many argue there is evidence that Bass Reeves was the basis of "The Lone Ranger", with several key similarities between the character and the real legend.

Why I love to travel -- I learn something new with each trip!

Military Farm Colonies -- I did not know such things existed during the Civil War.

During the Civil War, thousands of Arkansas civilians became displaced and relied on either the Federal or Confederate governments to provide basic necessities. This strained military resources and commanders searched for ways to make these refugees self-sufficient. With many Unionist families in northwestern Arkansas, Federal commanders created a program that allowed groups to grow subsistence crops and work together to provide mutual self-defense from enemy units. The colonies in northwestern Arkansas were established around the families of white Unionists, while other colonies in central and eastern Arkansas were populated by freedmen and their families.The land used by the families was not officially seized by the Union army or any other organization. Rather, the civilians at the farm colonies were technically squatters.

By the spring of 1864, the war had taken a toll on the agricultural output of the area; thousands were forced to move to Federal posts for subsistence. By May 1864, about 1,000 refugees were at Fort Smith and another 1,000 were at Fayetteville, relying on support from the Union troops. Some commanders distributed food while others gave cash to women and children in need.

US Col Harrison of the First Arkansas Cavalry wanted to help refugees provide their own sustenance and by May 1864 was using a home-guard company to guard farms near Pea Ridge. An order soon followed that authorized the establishment of companies to guard loyal farms. Harrison set out to create a system of military farm colonies across the region. At the same time, Gen  Reynolds ordered the commander of Fort Smith, Gen Bussey, to establish units of soldiers to farm using government-supplied implements and animals. Any food grown at these farms would take some of the pressure off already stretched Federal supply lines.

Harrison set out instructions for establishing the colonies. To begin the process for each colony, at least 50 men who were capable of bearing arms and who would sign an oath of loyalty to the Union were required. Their families would settle together and farm one large tract of land; each was responsible for their own crop and relied on one another only for mutual defense. The land was distributed by vote, each family received all they wished to farm. In order to defend themselves effectively, the colonies were required to construct a blockhouse or small fort. All people living within 10 miles of a colony were required to be recorded on a roster; any who refused were deemed to be rebels.

The colonies grew a number of subsistence crops, corn, potatoes, onions, and wheat and fodder crops such as hay and oats for farm animals. Other services  were offered at some colonies.  A blacksmith shop, church, and public school were all available to members of the colony.

Four colonies were created in the areas of Fort Smith and Van Buren under the direction of Bussey. Another 17, spread over several counties, were under the command of Harrison. About 1,200 men, along with women and children, lived in these 17 colonies. The colonies under Harrison put around 15,000 acres of land back into agricultural use, taking some of the supply strain off Federal forces. Governor Isaac Murphy recognized the success of the project and pushed Harrison to establish additional colonies, but the officer was unable to do so because he lacked enough men to protect the colonies.

The colonies were successful in offering mutual protection for Union families while providing for their own protection from possible Confederate and guerrilla threats. Some of the men did participate in active field operations against Confederate forces during the war, although most never saw action. One company operated in the field for almost a year, while 2 others participated in defending Fayetteville from enemy attack on Nov 3, 1864.

Gen Bussey did not approve of the colonies and worked to undermine any success that might come from the experiment. Col Harrison was Bussey’s direct subordinate, and the two did not agree on the necessity of the colonies. Although Bussey consistently reported to Little Rock that the experiment was not only unnecessary but likely to fail, he was unable to stop Harrison from supporting the colonies. Despite this lack of support, the colonies were successful in easing the strain on Federal outposts and in providing self-defense forces that could effectively protect the civilians in northwestern Arkansas.

The end of the war saw the end of the colonies. As landowners returned to reclaim their property, families working the land were forced to leave. While the colonies existed for only a year during the war, they did provide an effective way for civilians to become self-sufficient.

Miss Laura's Social Club and Bertha Dean

Born in Kansas in 1882, Bertha Lanthrop began her career as a prostitute around 1900. Prostitution was a way of life. First as a prostitute for Laura Zeigler at Miss Laura's Social Club, then as Laura Zeigler's successor. Bertha's life on "The Row" would last almost the full time the street was the red light district of Fort Smith and she would reside in the bordello at 123 First Street until her death in 1948.

For a perioid of time, she used the surname Jones. Either she married the man elsewhere since there are no records in the Fort Scott area, it was a common law arrangement or she simply was using the surname as a pseudonym. In records for 1915, when she was charged with being a "keeper of a hoor house of protitution,' she used the name Bertha Gale.

Sometime around 1917, Bertha married Mack Dean. A veteran of the Spanish-American War, he suffered from TB and died after 5 years of marriage. At the time of Dean's death, Bertha received letters from her sister and mother now living in California. Both tried to persuade her to leave Fort Smith and the bordello business. In her will, Bertha left the members of her family in California $1 each, stating that "they have not assisted me in anyway."

Although she had at least one other relationship, Bertha continued to use the name Dean. Jules Bartholemy lived in the brothel. His 'status' was not known, other than he did serve as a bouncer. Bertha left the land and the house to him upon her death in 1948.

Bertha Dean was a strong-willed and clever businesswoman with a very deep, loud voice. Available photos of her in the 1920's show her to be a petite woman, however over the years as she gained some weight, she was referred to as 'Big Bertha."

Life at the brothel was a combination of struggling with the police to maintain the business and fending off the financial problems of the depression. There were the boom years when, during WWII, the soldiers of Fort Chaffee found the hidden pleasures and talents at Miss Laura's Social Club. Bertha considered this a mixed "blessing." Although it brought in new clientele, it also brought in new competition as other brothels opened up on "The Row." At their height, there were about 10 "establishments" on the Row.

By the 1920s, with the completion of the Goldman Hotel and the Ward Hotel, Bertha instituted a "call girl" service. Usually a bell hop or porter would call Bertha to send a girl to the hotel for a guest. At about the same time, she started a business relationship with Sammie Peters Long, a local hairdresser. Whenever a new woman came to work at the social club, Bertha would send her over to Sammie's beauty parlor. Sammie would dye their hair, teach them how to sit and proper etiquette.

By the late 1930s, Ella Scott was Bertha's only remaining competition on the Row; the other bordellos had closed. Police pressure and economics pushed them out. As the bordellos closed the "crime syndicates" and pimps picked up the hotel business.

The 1940s brought one last upsurge in the business at 123 First Street. From Fort Chaffee, constructed in the late 1930s on the outskirts of the city, soldiers appeared again and frequented the house. But with the conclusion of World War II, fewer came. Bertha's health began to fail and in 1948, at the age of 66, she died. Perhaps it is fitting that she is buried with soldiers, the kind of men who founded Fort Smith and were her customers. Her body lies in the city's National Cemetery in section 1, plot 472 next to her husband, the Spanish-American War veteran, Mack Dean.

Miss Laura's Social Club, a house of prostitution, continues to welcome visitors to the city of Fort Smith -- today it is the Visitor's Center! Located at 123 First Street, it is the only former bordello in Arkansas listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

On the border between what was then the US and Indian Territory, Fort Smith was an Old West town that invited, or at least tolerated, prostitution. Miss Laura's was one of several bordellos established around the turn of the century.

Built in 1896 as the Riverfront Commercial Hotel, the house was bought by Laura Ziegler in 1898. Ziegler was a working prostitute on Bordello Row ("The Row") when she walked into a local bank and borrowed $3000. She purchased the building. It was one of a half-dozen other 'houses,' between the river and the railroad tracks. She renovated the building and opened it as a brothel in 1903. She repaid her loan in 17 months. She had the "classiest bordello" on the Row and one of the most selebrated in the Southwest. Cigars and brandy were offered in the sitting rooms. Her ladies were known as the healthiest and most sophisticated in Fort Smith. She required that the girls be fully dressed when going downstairs and have regular medical check ups. The results of the check ups were tacked to the girl's bedpost!

Law enforcement would enforce the laws against the running of houses of prostitution and collect the $5 fine. Once a month, Miss Laura and the other 5 madams of the Row walked to the courthouse to pay their fines. Then they went back to business. There was a little something extra in the envelope from Miss Laura's, prepaid tokens for local politicians and law enforcement officials.

In 1910, business started to drop off as more and more people in Fort Smith wanted to get rid of the Row. Five of the six bordellos were either burned to the ground or severely damaged on Jan 7, 1910, when an oil storage tank exploded. Sending the women and their customers into the street, this was known as “the night of the lingerie parade.” Miss Laura's set at the western end of the area and the flames were nearing her social club when a wind shift saved the building.

Ziegler realized that business was going to take a turn for the worse, and she sold the house to Bertha Gale Dean, one of her 'girls,' in 1911 for $47,000. Zeigler moved from the area and little is known of her after that. Bertha retained the name, Miss Laura's, and entertained its last paying customers in the early 1940s when the soldiers assigned to nearby Fort Chaffee arrived.

After the war, the area deteriorated into a slum but despite the decline, the house at 123 First Street remained open for business. Bertha Dean ran the brothel until her death in 1948. She left it to Jules Bartholemy, a man who lived and worked in the house.

Eventually abandoned, in 1963, the city announced that, unless a buyer was found, the house would be demolished. Donald Reynolds bought the house and began renovations. The building was selected in 1973 to the National Register of Historic Places; restoration began in 1983. A year later, Miss Laura’s Social Club and Restaurant opened; life as a restaurant was brief. In 1992 it was back in business doing what it did best -- welcoming visitors as the new Visitor's Center.

The interior is decorated as it would have been during Ziegler’s time, with furniture and wallpaper of the period. Each guestroom door has a transom bearing a lady’s name. A few original articles remain, including a stained-glass window.

On April 21, 1996, a tornado swept through downtown Fort Smith, ripping the roof off of Miss Laura’s. After necessary repairs, more than a century after it was built, Miss Laura’s still welcomes visitors to Fort Smith.

PLAYING TOURIST IN FORT SMITH

Fort Smith has many sites commemorating and preserving Trail of Tears, Civil War and Butterfield Overland Mail Company route history that are now part of the Arkansas Heritage Trails System.

It is a city of convergence. Its first fort was built at Belle Point, where the Arkansas and Poteau rivers unite. At one time, Federal marshals used to ride out of the United States and into Indian Territory at this juncture. Outlaws collided with Hanging Judge Parker.

During the Civil War, the North met the South here with devastating results. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company maintained a division center at Fort Smith, a junction point for south bound coaches from Tipton, Missouri, and west bound coaches from Memphis, Tennessee.

Around town there is plenty to see. The Clayton House is a classic Victorian Italianate mansion built in the 1850s by William Henry Harrison Clayton, a district attorney during the time of Judge Parker.

The Darby House is the childhood home of General William O. Darby, founder of the famed "Darby's Rangers" group that fought in Italy during World War II. He was killed in action in May of 1945; his rangers evolved into today's Army Rangers. He is buried in the Fort Smith National Cemetery.

The historic Belle Grove District is about 22 blocks of 150 years of architecture. Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne, Eastlake Victorian Renaissance, Gothic Revival, Craftsman, Prairie, Federal and Neoclassical architecture are all represented in the homes of some of Fort Smith's distinguished residents.

When the first Fort Smith was plotted 1817, land was set aside for a military cemetery. Granted national status in 1867, the 21-acre U.S. National Cemetery contains approximately 13,000 graves, among them Judge Isaac Parker, General William O. Darby, founder of the "Darby's Rangers," and Bertha Gale Dean, long-time madam of Miss Laura's Social Club. It is one of two national cemeteries in the United States that have both Union and Confederate soldiers.

Oak Cemetery hold the graves of more than 80 deputy U.S. Marshals who served under Federal Judge Isaac Parker and least 28 outlaws ordered hanged by Judge Parker in the late 19th century.

During the 1840s, future President Zachary Taylor was commander of the military garrison at Fort Smith. His private home was once located near what is now Immaculate Conception Church and St. Anne's Academy, at 13th and Garrison. A fire destroyed the home just before the turn-of-the-century, but what is referred to as Zachary Taylor's Chimney is still standing.

The Bass Reeves statute is a 25-foot work of art honoring the lawman believed to be the first black US deputy marshal west of the Mississippi. Born into slavery, he served for 32 years under Federal Judge Isaac C. Parker. This larger-than-life monument is fitting for a man whose legendary exploits made him one of the most feared lawman in the Indian Territory. Even though he was an African-American and illiterate (he memorized the warrants for every suspect he was to arrest and bring to trial) he brought in more outlaws from eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas than anyone.

By far, my favorite place has to be Miss Laura's Social Club, now the town's visitor's center. I reckon Miss Laura's has been welcoming visitors for a long time – how appropriate! Miss Laura's is located inside of Fort Smith's historic downtown area and sits alongside the Arkansas River. Out of 7 "row houses" that once lined Fort Smith's red light district, Miss Laura's is the only house that stood the test of time. Now, it is the only former-bordello on the National Register of Historic Places, and it has been fully restored to its original grandeur.

FORT SMITH – Where the New South meets the Old West

Early in the history of Arkansas and the city, Fort Smith was an important point of contact to the American West. Today Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas (after Little Rock) and shares county seat status with Greenwood as the county seat of Sebastian County.

The area was populated with Stone Age communities known as “bluff dwellers” as long ago as 10,000 BC. Over time other cultures arrived with invading tribes, although no permanent encampments have been identified. The indigenous of Arkansas were of the Quapaw tribe.

Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto traveled the area in 1541. In 1682, French explorer Robert cavelier de La Salle claimed the area for France as part of the Louisiana Territory. Place names in western Arkansas (Poteau, Belle Point, and Massard Prairie) are evidence of the presence of French trappers and others who used the Arkansas River and its tributary, the Poteau River.

The 1700s saw an increasing mix of native tribes west of the Mississippi and this often resulted in tension and conflicts, endangering not just the tribes themselves but also the increasing population of fur traders and pioneers who were using the Arkansas River Valley as a route to the west. The river valley provided fertile bottom land to earlier settlers and Belle Point, a river bluff, along the Arkansas River, afforded an excellent vantage point looking west and a defensible position.

In 1817, the United States established a series of frontier garrisons in the area annexed as part of the Louisiana Purchase. At one time, Federal marshals rode out of the US and into Indian Territory from Fort Smith. In 1822, John Rogers arrived and established himself as a supplier to the fort and trader with trappers, Native Americans, and other settlers.
Around the fort, a small settlement began forming. In the 1830s, Congress funded several military roads to improve transportation in territorial Arkansas. Rogers lobbied successfully for the military to return and by 1836 the second Fort Smith was under construction. Because of his association with both forts and his efforts to promote the town, many consider him the founder of the city of Fort Smith.

Fort Smith became central to communications on the frontier and points west as stage, steamboat, and mail transportation networks grew. The fort was important in outfitting and supplying military companies as well as civilians. Soldiers for the Mexican War (1846-1848) came through Fort Smith along with the Fourty-Niners (1848-1849) headed west in the Gold Rush.

St. Andrew’s College was established in 1849 but it did not last past 1860.

During the Civil War, the North met the South in northwest Arkansas with devastating results.  With the secession crisis in 1860, the Department of War prepared to abandon Fort Smith. The commander viewed his military position as impossible to defend; Federal troops remained until just before Arkansas seceded. Arkansas volunteers and Confederates took control of the fort. Union forces returned permanently in September 1863.

Although the Union held the fort, maintaining a hold on the surrounding area was increasingly difficult in 1864 as bushwhackers and Confederate regular and irregular forces marauded and conducted raids on Union forces and their supporters. Encounters include an “action at Fort Smith” in July, an “affair at Fort Smith” in September, and the “Fort Smith Expedition” in September and October.

By May 1864, about 1,000 refugees were at Fort Smith, and another 1,000 were at Fayetteville, relying on support from the Union troops. Some commanders distributed food to the families of Union soldiers, while others gave cash to women and children in need. After the war, Federal forces worked to restore order to the rural areas.

Military farm colonies were established in an effort to help refugees become self-sufficient. Federal commanders allowed groups to grow subsistence crops and work together to provide mutual self-defense from marauding enemy units. The colonies in northwestern Arkansas were established around the families of white Unionists, while other colonies in central and eastern Arkansas were populated by freedmen and their families.

The city also was the site of the Fort Smith Conference of 1865, a gathering of federal and tribal representatives for the purpose of negotiating the terms under which the former Confederate Indian nations could resume their relationship with the United States.

After fires destroyed officers’ quarters at the fort in 1870, the federal government officials initially resolved to sell it but later decided to move the Western Arkansas Federal District Court from Van Buren to the land at Belle Point. Judge William Story presided over the court but was replaced in May 1875 by Judge Isaac C. Parker, “the hanging judge,” a former congressman from Missouri.

Parker’s judgeship lasted until just before his death in 1896 and marks one of the most celebrated periods in Fort Smith history. US and deputy marshals headquartered in Fort Smith not only enforced the law in western Arkansas but also in the frequently lawless neighboring Indian Territory.

The railroad arrived in the 1870s and by the 1880s, the city of Fort Smith was in a period of booming growth. Population nearly tripled, commercial trade expanded, and Garrison Avenue became the wholesale and retail center of the region.

Natural gas was discovered in the area in 1887 and became an important feature that attracted manufacturers to the city.

An electric streetcar network within the city grew as the city did. Between 1907 and 1924, the city became one of the few in US history to not only legalize but also regulate prostitution in a restricted district (known as “the Row”).

Although Fort Smith did not have a large African-American population, streetcar lines, public bathrooms, water fountains, and other public facilities separated black and white citizens. Howard Elementary School and Lincoln High School provided public education to the city’s black children. On March 23, 1912, a mob of almost 1,000 lynched Sanford Lewis, an African American accused of shooting a constable. Unlike many cases of lynching, several police officers were tried and convicted for failing to stand against the mob.

On May 11, 1922, a bridge to accommodate automobile traffic was constructed to span the Arkansas River at the west end of Garrison, connecting downtown Fort Smith to Oklahoma.

During the Great Depression, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow hid in Fort Smith to elude capture while Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd robbed and did the same in nearby Oklahoma. The New Deal brought public works projects to the area, and federal workers built a dam to create a city water source, Lake Fort Smith.

Camp Chaffee was activated by the army on March 27, 1942. Used for training Armored Divisions during World War II, the army built 3 prison compounds covering about 53 acres to house 3,400 German prisoners of war. After the war, it was deactivated and activated many times and the city had to struggle and diversify its economy to become less reliant on Fort Chaffee.

Manufacturing, trucking, and food-processing employ thousands of people in the Fort Smith economy. The city is home to Hiram Walker’s blending and bottling facility .

In 1975, Fort Chaffee was the center for federal resettlement of Vietnamese refugees. Many remained in the community. A sizable Laotian community settled in Fort Smith beginning in the 1980s. A Laotian Buddhist temple, two Vietnamese Buddhist temples; and Vietnamese Christian churches serve the local Asian population. Hispanic immigrants are a recent addition to the city.

Social change came with economic growth. Fort Smith sought to avoid the divisive integration struggle that Little Rock underwent and, for the most part, did so.

Camp Chaffee to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas

Fort Chaffee, just outside of Fort Smith, has served as an army training camp, a prisoner of war camp, and a refugee camp. Currently, 66,000 acres are used by the Arkansas National Guard as a training facility, with the Arkansas Air National Guard using Razorback Range for target practice.

Camp Chaffee was designated Sept 20, 1941 as part of the Department of War’s preparations to double the size of the Army in the face of imminent war. That month, the US government paid $1.35 million to acquire 15,163 acres from 712 property owners, families, farms, businesses, churches, schools, and small communities. It took only 16 months to build the entire base. The first soldiers arrived on Dec 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor Day. From 1942 to 1946, the Sixth, Fourteenth, and Sixteenth Armored Divisions trained there. The creation of the camp caused the nearby town of Barling to experience a housing and business boom.

The camp was named after Major General Adna R. Chaffee Jr., an artillery officer who, while in Europe during World War I, determined that the cavalry was outdated and advocated for the use of tanks.

During World War II, it served as both a training camp and a prisoner-of-war camp. The major purpose of the camp was to train soldiers for combat and prepare units for deployment, but from 1942 to 1946, there were 3,000 German POWs housed there. 

From 1948 to 1957, Chaffee was the home of the Fifth Armored Division. On March 21, 1956, Camp Chaffee, now a more permanent installation, was re-designated as Fort Chaffee. In 1958, Chaffee was home to its most famous occupant, Elvis Presley and a most famous hair cut. Presley received his first military haircut in Building 803. 

                                            The Barber Shop

                                 The Hair Cut

In 1959, the “Home of the U.S. Army Training Center, Field Artillery” moved from Fort Chaffee to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. From 1960–61, the fort was the home of the 100th Infantry Division. In 1961, Fort Chaffee was declared inactive and placed on caretaker status, though it was reactivated on several occasions through 1974.

From 1975 to 1976, Fort Chaffee was a processing center for refugees from Southeast Asia. The facility processed 50,809 refugees of the Vietnam War, giving them medical screenings, matching them with sponsors, and arranging for their residence in the US. 

On May 6, 1980, Chaffee became a Cuban refugee resettlement center after the Cuban government allowed American boats to pick up refugees at the Port of Mariel. Three weeks later, a number of refugees rioted and burned 2 buildings. State troopers and tear gas were used to break up the crowd, and 84 Cubans were jailed. In two years, Fort Chaffee processed 25,390 Cuban refugees.

In 1987, the Joint Readiness Training Center began training soldiers at Chaffee; the center was transferred to Fort Polk, Louisiana, in 1993. In 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closure of Fort Chaffee, however essential ranges, facilities, and training areas were maintained for Reserve Component Training. In 1995, the federal government declared 7,192 of Fort Chaffee’s 76,075 acres to be surplus and turned the land over to the state. The remaining 66,000 acres were turned over to the Arkansas National Guard for use as a training facility.

The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority was established to begin redeveloping the acres that were turned over to the state. 

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the empty barracks were converted into temporary housing for more than 10,000 refugees from Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas.

Fort Chaffee has a bit of Hollywood history. In 1984 the movie A Soldier’s Story was shot at Fort Chaffee. Four years later, the Neil Simon movie Biloxi Blues was filmed there. The most recent visit from Hollywood was in 1995 for The Tuskegee Airmen movie.

FORT SMITH: The Fort That Wouldn't Die

As the nation moved west, the US established a series of frontier garrisons. Arkansas officially became part of the US as the District of Arkansas in 1803. The federal government began to intervene in inter-tribal hostilities in the area and in 1817. A fort was built at Belle Point, where the Arkansas and Poteau rivers meet, and named for General Thomas Smith of the federal garrison in St. Louis. For the next 7 years, Fort Smith military personnel arbitrated clashes between the Osage and Cherokee tribes, negotiated treaties, and patrolled the borders of the US that were contested by Spain.

Soon settlers arrived from the east, businesses arrived that catered to the settlers and the soldiers and a community grew up around Fort Smith.  Separating the history of the fort and the history of the town is difficult.

In 1823, a major outbreak of disease claimed the lives of 25% of the troops at Fort Smith.The following year, Col Matthew Arbuckle moved the 5 companies of soldiers under his command in search of healthier land to the west. The army abandoned the fort in 1824 and moved west to establish Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma). The garrison stayed empty until 1833 when Capt John Stuart used it as an inspection station to intercept those illegally selling whiskey to the local Indians. His mission lasted 1 year, and, again the post closed. In 1838 the Federal Government purchased land at the southeast corner of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers, reestablishing Fort Smith. From 1841 to 1845, Zachary Taylor commanded the 2nd Department, Western Division, at the fort in the years before the Civil War.

Fort Smith lasted longer than most western posts due to its location in the river valley that provided easy access to the west and due to its close proximity to the newly established Choctaw reservation in the Indian Territory.  When the majority of the troops had vacated Fort Smith, the fort retained its utility by serving as the headquarters for the Western Choctaw Agency and also as the hub of enforcement for prohibition activities in that area.

The history of Fort Smith, the fort and the town,  is interwoven with that of native peoples from the fort's time as a peacekeeping entity to the part it played in the forced relocation of thousands of native tribes west of the Mississippi River, The Trail of Tears.

As Americans demanded the need for more land, Thomas Jefferson proposed a solution – relocate the eastern tribes into a buffer zone between the US and the the land to the west claimed by European countries. Between 1816 and 1840, a number of eastern tribes ceded their land to the US and were forcibly moved west into what is now Oklahoma. As a result more than 100,000 native men, women and children moved on an arduous route that took them halfway across the country. There were several points of debarkation and several western routes used, but they ultimately passed thru or were held at Fort Smith.

US Army Captain S. D. Sturgis, the post’s commander at the start of the Civil War, withdrew his men from Fort Smith when he received word that 2 approaching Confederate steamships carrying over 300 soldiers were on the river. When the Confederate army arrived on April 23, 1861, they found the fort empty; it became a Confederate supply depot.

In 1860, the state of Arkansas had a population of 435,450 people, 111,115 were slaves and 11,481 were slave owners. It appeared inevitable that when the Confederacy voted to secede from the Union in April 1861, Arkansas would be on board with the Confederates; however, while more than 60,000 Arkansas residents joined rebel troops, at least 9,000 citizens and more than 5,000 Blacks fought on the side of the Union.

With Arkansas’ formal secession from the Union, the fort remained in Confederate hands until the summer of 1863. Fort Smith troops took part in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek in 1861 and the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1862. Occupied by only a small contingent of soldiers in August 1863, Union forces recaptured the fort and held it for the remainder of the war.

Fort Smith's strategic location on intersecting rivers and roads made it both a valuable staging area as a Union outpost and a continuing target for the Confederate faithful holed up in the surrounding mountains and in Indian Territory. The fort became a refuge for citizens aligned with the Union and suffering from supply raids by rebel troops. In 1865, Confederate leadership officially turned Arkansas, Texas and Indian Territory over to the Union, and the Fort Smith Confederates returned home to begin the work of rebuilding their community.

Post-Civil War, Fort Smith became an outpost in the sub-district of Arkansas, charged with enforcement of Reconstruction regulations and registration of freedmen. Fort Smith evolved from military to administration of frontier justice, as a succession of tough judges presided on the bench and attempted to impose order. Judge Isaac Parker, the infamous "hanging judge," meted out sentences over a 21-year period, ordering hundreds of defendants to jail and 160 men to "hang by the neck until you are dead, dead, dead!"

Arkansas weathered the Great Depression, the crop-killing drought and the movement of many of its citizens to 'greener pastures.' As the country began to rebound, Fort Smith, taking advantage of its location, situated on two rivers that lead to the Mississippi, and an abundance of roadways, became an industrial hub.

The former military installation briefly served as a relocation camp for Japanese and German U.S. citizens during World War II, but in 1975 and 1980 also provided shelter and transition for Vietnamese and Cuban refugees seeking asylum in the United States.

The Fort Smith National Historic Site includes the remains of the original 1817 fort plus the 1870's Federal courtroom of the Western District of Arkansas. Inside are the restored courtroom of the famed "Hangin' Judge" Isaac C. Parker, and the dingy frontier jail aptly named "Hell on the Border."

 ENTRANCE TO HELL ON THE BORDER JAIL

                                                  THE GALLOWS

Trek North --- Day 2 -- Texarkana to Fort Smith.

It's Tuesday, Aug 30, and I'm starting to feel almost human again.  The joints are no longer frozen in the driving position and the lungs are grateful that I'm not loading and unloading each evening and morning.  There are some advantages to pulling your home behind you -- just get out of the truck and walk into the 'house!'  It isn't quite that easy when you do the motel-thing.

I wasn't intentionally neglecting the blog and failing to report my adventures -- just too 'pooped' to do anything but crash when I pulled off of the road for the night.  AND...I have now had a REAL meal -- something other than peanut butter sandwiches, fast food and pizza -- I'm able to set, stand and walk like a real human again.

So....going back to last week - the travel week...

MONDAY AUG 22nd 

I bid farewell to my friends in central Texas, left my cat in Brenda's care, and headed north. First stop, Texarkana.  Not much to see or do along that route -- I drove thru rain, drizzle and some winds and decided not to stop at Russell Stovers or the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana. 

It was raining when I pulled into the motel so put off sight-seeing until the AM as I pulled out of town.  Not a good plan -- foggy, hazy, drizzling in the AM.  I did drive down to see the federal building built in two states.  Earlier I posted some info on the building and on Texarkana on the blog. 

TUESDAY AUG 23rd 
  
Once the rain and drizzle cleared, it was an easy trip from Texarkana to my next stop - Fort Smith Arkansas. 

Enroute to Fort Smith, two towns caught my "fancy."  DeQueen, part of the old Butterfield stage route and the Trail of Tears, and Mena. Short stops in both towns gave my joints a rest from the 'driving' position. 

DE QUEEN was founded along a railroad begun in the late 1880s from Kansas City to Port Arthur, Texas. When an economic depression beginning in 1893 dried up sources of American capital needed for the railway's completion, Arthur Stillwell, who had conceived the idea for the rail line and who was then part owner of the Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Gulf Railroad, traveled to Holland in 1894 seeking investors for the project.

Stillwell contacted Jan DeGeoijen, a coffee broker he had met on a previous trip to Europe. He convinced DeGeoijen to support the project and in a few months the they managed to raise $3 million.

The town was named in honor of DeGeoijen, but due to pronunciation difficulties it was altered to "De Queen." The change subsequently made possible one of the most agreeably curious newspaper names. The De Queen Bee began publishing in 1897 and is still in operation.  

MENA is located in the Arkansas Ouachita Mountains and was founded in 1896 as a railroad town at the eastern foot of Arkansas's second highest peak, Rich Mountain. It sets on the eastern edge of the Talimena Scenic Drive, a 54-mile byway between Mena and Talihina, Oklahoma.

The Mena Depot Center is a restored 1920 railroad depot that serves as the visitor's center and art and local history exhibits and railroad memorabilia. An 1851 log cabin still on its original site in what is now Janssen Park. 

Mena was founded by Arthur Edward Stilwell during the building of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf Railroad (now the Kansas City Southern), which stretched from Kansas City, Missouri to Port Arthur, Texas. Train service to Mena began in 1896.

Stilwell named the town in honor of Folmina Margaretha Janssen-De Goeijen, the wife of his friend and financier Jan De Goeijen, whom Mr. De Goeijen affectionately called Mena. Janssen Park in the center of Mena is also named for her.

Mena was settled in 1896, and incorporated on September 18, 1896. The town's main industries were timber, agriculture and mineral extraction, though it was advertised as a spa city located within a healthy environment.

In 1910, the railroad moved its shop facilities from Mena to Heavener, Oklahoma, causing a loss of 800 jobs. In 1911, a damaging tornado struck the town.

A Sundown town
A black community called Little Africa developed on Board Camp Creek east of Mena. The community was small, with a population of 152 in 1900.  In 1901, a black man was lynched after an alleged altercation with a white girl. No one was arrested for the crime. Several other instances of racially motivated hate and violence towards Mena's black community occurred. This, combined with declining job prospects after the railway shops left town, led many blacks to leave Mena. By 1910, just 16 remained.

The Mena Star advertised the town as being "100% white" in its March 18, 1920 edition, and a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan was organized in 1922. In 1927, the Mena Commercial Club created advertisements which stated that Mena, in addition to having "pure soft water" and "beautiful scenery", also had "no Negroes".  Like many other communities in America, Mena had become a sundown town. Many sundown towns displaying city signs "Whites only within the city limits after dark."

In the 1950s, a government program to stockpile manganese led to the reopening of local mines that had been closed since the 1890s. The program ended in 1959, and the mines again closed.

During the 1980s, drug smuggler Barry Seal moved his operations to the Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport, where he owned and operated many planes and helicopters, as well as advanced radar equipment.

On April 9, 2009, a large and violent, high end EF-3 tornado devastated the town, killing three and injuring 30; damages were estimated at $25 million.

Next stop, Fort Smith for the nite.

~~~~~

Adler Berriman "Barry" Seal (July 16, 1939 – February 19, 1986) was a drug smuggler, an aircraft pilot and dealer who flew flights for the Medellín Cartel. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he began flying at the age of 15. In 1955, aged 16, he received his airman certificate and joined the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). He flew for TWA until 1974 when he was fired by the company.

Employed by the Medellín Cartel as a pilot and drug smuggler, he transported numerous shipments of cocaine from Colombia to the United States. After successful runs into his home base in Louisiana he moved operations to an airport facility in Mena, Arkansas. There he bought, sold, and operated many planes. This includes the C-123 transport plane, supplied to him by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), that was famously used in the Nicaragua sting operation.  He was eventually arrested and assassinated.

The Beauty of the Ozarks

Driving up from Fort Smith to Rogers Ark, I took the 'scenic' Boston Mountain Loop. One of my stops was at Artist Point, about 8 miles north of Mountainburg (home of the dinosaurs in the park). Artist Point is a gift shop, small museum and a coin operated telescope -- and one terrific view!

I had planned on stopping there to see the view, however, paying more attention to the two-lane steep grade, curvey road, I drove right by it. No place to turn around, so no traffic coming, I lined my dually right up on the yellow center lines and back back down the hill and around the curve. WHEW!! There was very little shoulder and I was not sure I could back up in my lane – but the yellow line is a really great guide!

The overlook gives you a spectacular vista of the mountains and valleys with the White Rock Mountain in the distance.

In addition to its spectacular view of the mountains, it is a great place to see an outstanding crop of kudzu. Sometimes called the "vine that ate the South," kudzu is a remarkable non-native plant that was introduced into the United States in 1876. If you have done much traveling thru the south, you have probably seen vast expanses of kudzu!

The Boston Mountains are part of the Ozarks and hold an important place in Arkansas history. Confederate troops used the mountains as a natural fortification during the Civil War. The rough terrain made it difficult for the Union army to locate and track the movements of Southern forces as they made their way back and forth through the mountains. The area provided both security and an opportunity to advance without detection. The mountains played key roles in the battles at Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove in 1862.

THE STORY OF KUDZU A nursery in Chipley, Florida, became interested in the plant because of its potential use as cattle feed. It is high in nitrogen. The rest of the Kudzu story is history! It now covers more than 7 million acres of the South and it continues to spread. It has been discovered as far north as the Great Lakes.

Pea Ridge National Military Park

Had a delightful day communing with the Civil War Generals and soldiers of the past!  Took a trip to the Pea Ridge National Military Park.  It was my lucky day - this being the 160th anniversary of the National Park Service, there was no admission fee!  Of course, the money I saved on the admission fee was well spent on some books on the battle! They have a wonderful movie explaining the battle at the Visitor's Center.  The driving tour was made most interesting with the CD explaining each stop along the way.  It took me over 2 hours to make the rounds.  Glad I took a picnic lunch!

There is one thing that is true of wars and battles -- the winner gets to name the battle/war.  To the Federal Forces, it was the Battle of Pea Ridge; to the Confederates, it was the Incident at Elkhorn Tavern.  The Battle of Pea Ridge is considered to be the battle that saved Missouri for the Union.

March 6-8, 1862, Union forces under Gen Samuel Curtis clashed with the army of Gen Earl Van Dorn at the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas. The battle ended in defeat for the Confederates.

Pea Ridge was part of a larger campaign for control of Missouri. Seven months earlier, the Confederates defeated a Union force at Wilson’s Creek, northeast of Pea Ridge. General Halleck, the Federal commander in Missouri, organized an expedition to drive the Confederates from southwestern Missouri. In February 1862, General Samuel Curtis led the 12,000-man Union army toward Springfield, MO. Confederate General Sterling Price retreated from the city with 8,000 troops in the face of the Union advance. Price withdrew into Arkansas, and Curtis followed him.

Price hooked up with Confederate Gen McCulloch and their combined army was placed under the leadership of General Van Dorn, recently appointed commander of Confederate forces in the trans-Mississippi area. Van Dorn joined Price and McCulloch on March 2, 1862, and ordered an advance on Curtis’ army. 

     (The Green John Deere is NOT a relic from the battle!)
Curtis received word of the approaching Confederates and concentrated his force around Elkhorn Tavern. Van Dorn sent part of his army on a march around the Yankees. On March 7, McCulloch slammed into the rear of the Union force, but Curtis anticipated the move and turned his men towards the attack. McCulloch and his second in command were both killed during the battle sending the Confederate troops into confusion. Meanwhile, the other part of Van Dorn’s forces attacked the front of Curtis’ command. Through bitter fighting the Union troops held their ground. Van Dorn's troops may have had better results if he had not left additional ammunition and supplies behind the lines so he could force march his troops to Elkhorn Tavern.

Curtis, suspecting that the Confederates were low on ammunition, attacked the divided army the following morning. Van Dorn realized he was in danger and ordered a retreat, ending the battle. 

                                                         The Elkhorn Tavern
The Yankees suffered some 1,380 men killed, wounded, or captured out of 10,000 engaged; the Confederates suffered a loss of about 2,000 out of 14,000 engaged. The Union won a decisive victory that also helped them clear the upper Mississippi Valley region on the way to securing control of the Mississippi River by mid-1863.

There is an Iowa connection to the Battle at Pea Ridge:  
4th Iowa- Lieutenant Colonel John Galligan
Losses: 160 (18 killed, 139 wounded, 3 missing)

1st Independent Battery, Iowa Light Artillery-Captain Junius A. Jones (wounded), Lieutenant Virgil A. David
Four 6-pounder guns and two 12-pounder howitzers
Losses: 17 (3 killed, 14 wounded)

9th Iowa- Lieutenant Colonel Francis J. Herron (wounded/captured), Major William H. Coyl (wounded)
Losses: 218 (38 killed, 176 wounded, 4 missing)

3rd Independent Battery, Iowa Light Artillery (Dubuque Battery) - Captain Mortimer M. Hayden
Four 6-pounder guns and two 12-pounder howitzers
Losses: 22 (2 killed, 17 wounded, 3 missing)

3rd Iowa Cavalry- Colonel Cyrus Bussey
(Companies A, B, C, D and M present at Pea Ridge; remainder absent on duty in Missouri)
Losses: 50 (1 killed, 3 wounded, 2 missing)