Adventures in Ft. Smith/Ft. Chaffee, AR

[rvgrammy1953]

Hey, all..........well the rain finally ended and we got out to do some site-seeing of Old Ft. Smith....I really took too many photos to post here, but I am posting some of the highlights of the day.....

First let me show you our campsite at Ft. Chaffee, AR...

And of course, a photo of us so you can see we are both well..

And I think I mentioned an old WW II Army Stockade just down the road from the RV park....they tore down all the WWII POW building down years ago, but you get the idea....

Next....The Visitor Center is located in a turn of the century "Bordello" house called Miss Laura's....and Ernie says to tell you that no "Ladies of the Night" were present cause they all retired long ago....

But the tour was sure interesting....
Onward to Old Ft Smith.....1st we went into the courthouse/National Park Service Visitor Center...viewed a short video and then explored...

next was the basement jail where Judge Parker kept all the "bad guys" until trial...

Then up stairs to the courtroom.....

And if Judge Parker found them guilty....it was off to the gallows..

Now before Judge Parker was there...Ft. Smith was an outpost for the Indian Territory.....so here's a couple of photos of the commissary for the troops...


Ft.Smith was also the beginning of the "Trail of Tears"....from here the Indians walked approx. 900 miles to their reservations....

Trail of Tears Overlook into Indian Territory....


Well, hope you enjoyed my little travel log....

Lori

[carold]

Thanks for the pictures. One of the things I love about traveling is that you get to really "see" our history and not just read and look at pictures. Thanks for the tour. carold

[avalen]

oh, I just love that old time stuff, but I would have never survived, life was so
hard back then.

[retiredhappy]

Thanks so much for the pictures - Loved them.

[snowball]

thanks for the tour
Its good to see some of the history of the country
sheila

[Cedar518]

thanks Lori,.... nice tour! mentioning the "trail of tears" makes me feel sad. It wasn't one of our most honorable times as a country.

[oregontocal]

Great pictures, Lori.