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.
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