Day Trippin' - Ft Smith

We were looking for something different to do last weekend and decided on a overnight trip to Ft. Smith, Arkansas. We had stopped there a few years ago on our way back from the Steampunk Festival in neighboring Van Buren. We were surprised by the amount of history and planned to go back sometime for further exploration. It's only a 1-1/2 hour drive, so it was perfect for our simple getaway.

A new museum opened since we made that quick stop a few years ago. The US Marshals Museum opened in the summer of 2023. It's a beautiful facility and full of a history I'd never thought much about before.

Above shows the inside entrance to the exhibit. Below is a display of the document establishing the US Marshal Service in 1789 during George Washington's administration! Also on display are the badges worn through the years.

The exhibit rooms are organized around a center area called The Campfire, where stories are told of the evolving of the Marshal Service from its beginnings, the Frontier, and modern times. Each room focuses on these different eras with interactive displays, artifacts, photos, and much more. It's extremely well done.

This little visit got me interested in the new Taylor Sheridan series "Lawmen." It's planned to be an anthology with the first series being about Bass Reeves. His story is particularly fascinating because he was a former slave who became one of the most respected and longest serving of the Territory marshals. We read a lot about the Frontier marshals but it was the Oklahoma/Indian Territory history that was especially interesting to us.

The Hall of Honor bearing the names of 350+ Marshals killed in the line of duty.

Located on the banks of the Arkansas River, "The Museum features a unique exterior with a modified star-shaped design signifying the star badge worn by courageous U.S. Marshals. Inside, five immersive galleries educate guests about the critical, ever-evolving role the Marshals have played in upholding the Rule of Law, driven by justice, integrity and service."

You can read more about the museum and see additional photos at their website: https://marshalsmuseum.org/

If you like art, check out the Regional Art Museum. https://fsram.org/   We enjoyed two fascinating collections - one by Susan Chambers called "Back to the Garden" and another by over 100 artists who submitted their interpretations of "Beasts of the Imagination" in paintings, digital art, mixed media, and sculpture. Both were very interesting and worth the stop. (I love mixed media art!)

We made one more stop and I'll show those photos in the next post.