Fort Smith International
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If
you've logged on to us from Canada, Mexico or countries
overseas, we welcome all foreign visitors to our Fort Smith,
Arkansas, website. Whether you're planning a trip to the
United States and want to visit Arkansas, or just curious
about American history, we'd like to tell you a little bit
about the exciting role our city played in the development
of the American Southwest.
Fort
Smith grew up outside the walls of a military fort established
on the Arkansas River to maintain peace between the Cherokee
and Osage Indian tribes on the western frontier. Several
routes to the west passed through Fort Smith, so in a span
of about five decades, our city saw early traders and trappers;
gold-seekers headed to San Francisco; covered wagons filled
with pioneer families; stagecoaches on the Butterfield Trail
Route; and plenty of cowboys, Indians and outlaws. There
were also battles fought near Fort Smith in our American
Civil War. By the 1880's, the area across the Arkansas River
was known as "Indian Territory," and "Hangin' Judge" Isaac
Parker in Fort Smith earned his nickname by sentencing nearly
80 men to die on the gallows.
A
replica of Judge Parker's original gallows is part of our
Fort Smith National Historic Site, which has ruins of the
original fort, and information about area outlaws, Indians,
and cowboys that affected our history. Our Fort Smith Museum
of History also contains displays, exhibits and artifacts
of our earlier, violent culture on the edge of the American
Southwest. Fort Smith's welcoming center for visitors and
tourists, "Miss Laura's," is located in what used to be
a frontier house of prostitution, and is now beautifully
restored.
For
more specific information about Fort Smith's wild and wooly
history, email your comments or questions to: tourism@fortsmith.org.
Should you like to call us directly, we have an 800 toll-free
number. Just dial 011-1-800-637-1477.
Thank
you. And please visit us again.
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FORT SMITH CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
2 North B, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901
1-800-637-1477 | (479) 783-8888
Fax (479) 784-2421
E-Mail:tourism@fortsmith.org
©2003 Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau
All rights reserved
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