TRAVEL DAY 3 ON THE TREK NORTH - Fort Smith AR to Rogers MO

Leaving Fort Smith, headed to Fayetteville via the Boston Mountain Scenic Route, I made a stop at Van Buren and the site of the Battle of Dripping Springs. Made a quick stop to pick up some daisies to leave for 'my soldiers!'

In the shadow of the Boston Mountains, Van Buren is on the banks of the Arkansas River across from Fort Smith.  It is recognized as one of Arkansas’ oldest cities. The community began to take shape in 1818 when Thomas Phillips purchased land rights in current-day Van Buren. For a short time, the new settlement was known as Phillips Landing. With the assigning of a post office and designation as county seat of Crawford County, it began to grow. In 1845, it was renamed in honor of then Secretary of State Martin Van Buren and incorporated as a city.

In 1857, Van Buren became a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage Route, making it possible for mail and people to travel from St Louis to California in only 22-25 days.

By the time of the Civil War, the town was surrounded by plantations and farms.  Steamboats passed up and down the river, stopping to take in and deliver cargo and passengers.  As the Civil War progressed, Van Buren was a major center of military activity and was the base for Confederate operations in the Prairie Grove Campaign of 1862. The town itself was attacked in December of that year when Union troops won the Battle of Van Buren and the Battle of Dripping Springs.

Like much of Western Arkansas, the Civil War devastated Van Buren. It was not until the coming of the railroad from Little Rock in the mid-1870s that the town started a recovery. The railroad’s presence established Van Buren as an important center for the shipment of farm products.

In 1857, Parley Pratt, one of the first members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was held in jail overnight after being arrested by the US Army in the Indian Territory.  Shortly after his release, he was cornered by Hector McLean, his wife's estranged husband, with 6 others 12 miles from Van Buren and stabbed and shot to death. His grave site is preserved today as a memorial by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Wyatt Earp also spent time in the Van Buren jail, arrested there for horse stealing. 

On April 21, 1996, at 11:12PM., a category F3 tornado hit the Fort Smith/Van Buren area. The tornado killed 2 children, injured 89 and cost $300 million in damage. At its worst, it was one-half mile wide and entered Van Buren on the west side damaging a residential area. The total distance traveled on the ground was 7 miles. About 1,800 homes damaged.

Today, Van Buren’s Main Street is 6 blocks of beautifully restored buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  At the south end of the historical downtown is the Crawford County courthouse, the oldest functioning courthouse west of the Mississippi River. 

I love how they are recovering the original 
brick and store fronts and trim.

Van Buren’s most well known resident, Bob “Bazooka” Burns, was born Robin Burn in 1890.  Before the age of 12, he was already playing the trombone and cornet.  At 13 he blew into a length of gas pipe which gave off a unique sound he and found he had discovered a new instrument.  With a few modifications, he had invented the “bazooka” – a name that came from the word “bazoo,” meaning a windy fellow.