Arkansas Travelers

We left George Washington Carver NM around 10:30AM, and headed south down I-49 to Arkansas and our next stop, Pea Ridge National Military Park. We grabbed lunch on our way through town and headed straight out to the park.

Pea Ridge was the "battle that saved Missouri for the Union." Fought on March 7-8, 1862, it involved some of the same commanding officers who had faced off at Wilson's Creek, such as Maj. Gen. Sterling Price (pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard), Confederate Brig. Gen. Ben McCulloch, and the Union second-in-command Brig. Gen. Franz Sigel. 

As at Wilson's Creek NB, we picked up the passport stamps, went through the exhibits, worked on Jr. Ranger books, watched the movie, and enjoyed the air conditioning in the visitor center. Ugh, still so insanely hot!

But in order to see the battlefield, we eventually had to venture outside. Fortunately, there were a lot of Pokéstops and gyms along the auto tour route, so the boys were willing to get out of the car without complaint. Amazing!

The first stop was significant for several reasons. Shallow ruts from remnants of the Wire Road were still visible here. This road was so named because of the telegraph lines that ran alongside it. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company also used this route to transport mail and passengers between St. Louis, MO (or Memphis, TN) and San Francisco, CA via stagecoach from 1857-1861. In addition, thousands of Cherokees and other Native Americans passed through here during their forced removal from their homelands in the winter of 1838-39. And during the Pea Ridge Campaign, it was used by both armies.

Union Brig. Gen Samuel R. Curtis had originally fortified his defenses along the north side of Little Sugar Creek, anticipating a Confederate attack from the south. However, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn moved his troops around to the north in order to attack from the rear. On March 7, Van Dorn sent McCulloch and his troops around the west side of Elkhorn Mountain with the goal of rejoining Price's troops near Elkhorn Tavern. As McCulloch was maneuvering his men, they encountered Federal forces near Leetown and quickly found themselves in a firefight. Both McCulloch and second-in-command Brig. Gen. James McIntosh were killed during the fighting.

At the Leetown Battlefield stop (#4) - these cannons represent the Federal
guns which were positioned here.

From the east overlook (stop #7), we could see the entire battlefield. Can you imagine what this field must have looked like on the morning of March 8, with the entire Union army deployed in one continuous line? 10,000 men in a battle formation one mile long!

Elkhorn Tavern (stop #8) was used by Curtis as a supply base until it was captured by the Confederates on March 7. They then used it as a field hospital to tend to wounded men from both sides. On March 8, the Union troops retook the tavern after Van Dorn ordered his troops to withdraw.

The tavern was burned by the Confederates in 1863 - this is a reconstruction.

These guns mark the Union battle lines on the morning of March 8.

We stopped at the visitor center on our way out to collect another set of Jr. Ranger badges, and then we were back on the road before 2:00PM to get to our final stop for the day. After a very pretty 90-minute drive, we arrived at Fort Smith National Historic Site. Right on the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma, the fort played an important role in the history of the western frontier in the 1800s.

The building which served as the barracks, federal district courthouse, and jail of the second Fort Smith now houses the visitor center. Since it was closing at 5:00PM (but the grounds were open until dusk), we went through all of the inside exhibits first.

"Hell-on-the-Border"

The jail in the basement held up to 50 men in the same room. No heating, A/C, or indoor plumbing. Can you guess what the purpose of that bucket in the fireplace was? Thankfully the NPS didn't recreate the smell!

Part of our pre-trip homework was watching the original "True Grit." Mattie (Kim Darby) goes to Fort Smith to enlist the help of U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) to catch the man who murdered her father. When she arrives in town, she witnesses a public hanging. While the movie was actually filmed in Colorado, Judge Isaac C. Parker, who presided over the federal court here, did sentence 160 criminals to death, only 79 of which faced hanging by the gallows.

Judge Parker's courtroom

After M and J collected their Jr. Ranger badges, we headed outside to walk the grounds. It was still at least 100°F at 5:00PM, and that didn't even take the heat index into account! Double ugh.

A reproduction of the gallows

The replica flag represents 1867-1877, when there were
only 37 states in the Union.

The first Fort Smith was built next to the confluence of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers, but was abandoned in 1824.  Only its stone foundation remains (and is apparently teeming with Pokémon!)

What else would bring out dozens of people in 100+ degree heat?

The Poteau River (to the left) and Arkansas River (center)
with Oklahoma in the distance. 

After leaving the park, we drove across town and checked into our hotel room, and then promptly cranked the A/C down as far as the thermostat would go. The front desk recommended Calico County for dinner - good choice!

Chicken fried steak and peach cobbler - yum!

After dinner, the baller was itching to shoot some baskets on the hotel court, so he and R went outside in the heat, while the cripple (who tore his Achilles tendon back in April) decided to work on his rehab exercises in the pool. I enjoyed my alone time in the refrigerator, um, room.

Tomorrow: Ooooh-kla-homa, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain!

Today's route: 195 miles