When Travelling in Arkansas & the Midwest Visit the Fort Smith-Van Buren in the AR Area

For history buffs who like to travel, when driving through the midwest or southwestern parts of the U.S., the Fort Smith-Van Buren area in western Arkansas, just across the Arkansas River from Oklahoma, is a great locale to visit.

The western Arkansas-eastern Oklahoma area is rich in history going back to the late 19th century and beyond, well before the Oklahoma Territory became a state.

"Hang Around" Fort Smith

In those days, the "hanging" Judge Isaac Parker controlled the chaotic goings on as criminals flocked through Fort Smith on the way to the Oklahoma Territory, where there was no extradition at the time.

Judge Parker administered justice in the area from the 1890s to the early 20th century. Such frontier justice might be considered extreme today, but back in those days society deemed it necessary to protect citizens from the fringe elements passing through Fort Smith often.

Their Warehouse Is A Museum...

In addition to Judge Parker's court in the downtown area near the Arkansas River, there is also the Fort Smith Museum of History to consider for a visit. The Museum is housed in a former warehouse a block off of downtown Garrison Avenue.

Keep Me From The Gallows Pole
www.last.fm/music/Led+Zeppelin/_/Gallows+Pole

Just a couple of blocks down Rogers Avenue in the downtown area, the Fort Smith Museum provides a little respite from what some might consider the macabre gallows and Judge Parker's court.

The Fort Smith Museum of History contains many exhibits including displays concerning William O. Darby, a Fort Smith native who headed Darby's Rangers of World War II fame. Darby was the subject of a movie, also named Darby's Rangers, starring James Garner in the leading role.

There are exhibits on the Vietnamese and Cuban relocations to nearby Fort Chaffee in the 70s and 80s. The Cuban situation during the Carter administration helped cost a former Arkansas Governor his shot at a second term in 1980.

Clinton was denied another term for awhile, anyway, as the then first term Gov. Bill Clinton was returned to the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock two years later in 1982. The rest, as they say is history...

The Fort Smith Visitor's Center located just a couple of blocks away is, oddly enough in a conservative area, located in an old brothel, Miss Laura's.

You Won't Want To Leave the Building...

In the Museum of History, there is even a display about a certain G.I. who was inducted into the U.S. Army at Fort Chaffee in the 1950s. Some guy named Elvis Presley.

Downstairs, there is an old fashioned soda fountain. Just don't refer to your server as a "soda jerk" please!

If in the downtown Fort Smith area at lunch or dinner time, there are numerous good eating establishments nearby including The Varsity Sports Bar & Grill, the Hamburger Barn, Papa's Pizza and others.

At some point in the future, depending on fund raising efforts targetting around $50 million, Fort Smith, AR will be home to the U.S. Marshals Museum. In 2007, Fort Smith, AR was selected to host the 50,000 square foot facility to be built next to the Arkansas River just north of downtown.

I'm Taking On The Entire Van Buren Boys!

Like the street gang in the 148th episode of the smash hit comedy Seinfeld, the city of Van Buren, AR, located just 4-5 miles east of downtown Fort Smith is named for our nation's 8th President. That's where the similarities end, however.

If you venture to historic downtown Van Buren, street gangs accosting tourists are the least of your worries. Downtown Van Buren is clean and orderly and a throwback to a "simpler time."

The 1980s film Biloxi Blues starring Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken was partly filmed at Fort Chaffee and downtown Van Buren.

A dimwitted acquaintance of mine met Broderick and didn't know who he was, asking the star of Ferris Bueller's Day Off if he was with the film. This was just a year or two after Ferris Bueller was a household name, by the way...

There are several antique shops and the like in downtown Van Buren. There is a train station on which one can take a train ride north to Winslow, a forty to forty five mile junket into the beautiful Boston Mountains south of Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas.

The Fort Smith-Van Buren, AR area is conveniently located just off Interstate 40, one of the most travelled highways in the U.S., so come and see us!

Fort Smith Museum of History
U.S. Marshals Museum