Research done nearly a year ago…becomes a book.
I traveled to Fort Smith Arkansas…and the fact it was February and warm enough for my husband to play golf…well, that’s not why i went, but it’s why he cooperated.
There was so much to see. Fort Smith has really done a great job of preserving it’s history. At it’s most basic…Fort Smith was the gateway to Indian Territory…and outlaws treated Indian Territory like base in a gun-slinging game of tag.
They’d run across the border into Indian Territory and local law enforcement couldn’t follow. Once they were in there, they were safe from capture.
Remember True Grit? I’m thinking of the original with John Wayne.John Wayne was a US Marshal. That picture is photos of movies featuring US Marshals. Here is a collection of some of the more famous movies.
When Rooster Cogburn went hunting Lucky Ned Pepper…he rode into Indian Territory…and Kim Darby wanting to go along was outrageous. it was a lawless (except for the marshals) dangerous place…worse than the usual western landscape.
Assigning the US Marshals Service to go in there, that was federal. However, Fort Smith, Arkansas was a place of corruption. Even with the Marshals going in and arresting them, those outlaws would bribe the judge and walk right back into Indian Territory…until they assigned Judge Parker to the court there.
He was a hangin’ judge for a fact. Honestly most of the history of the city is about him more than the marshals…except for the Marshals Museum. And he was so quick and ruthless to sentence everyone to hanging that is caused some trouble.
Some pictures from my trip:
A list of the men Judge Parker hung
They rebuilt the gallows for a display…a little grim.
A replica of Judge Parker’s Courtroom
A quote from Judge Parker. What can I say?
They sent him in to clean things up…and he took his job seriously.
Fort Smith’s efforts to … ahem … soften? Redeem? Whitewash?
His image pretty much boiled down to …they all had it coming.
Get a load of the fees!!
$2 for a prisoner brought in. This could take days or weeks and you were risking your LIFE, for $2.
NOTHING if you brought him in dead.
75 cents to feed the prisoners. You could get reimbursed for mileage. Your posse earned money.
This is Bass Reeves. A black US Marshal. There is a show about him on Paramount +. Very cool dude. Some of what I read said they based the Lone Ranger on him…simply because, in that day and age, a seemingly wandering black man would come into your town and suddenly a bad guy disappeared. Few people connected the outlaw’s disappearance to Bass Reeves. He caught (it’s said) 3,000 outlaws and worked as a marshal for 32 years.
This is Phoebe Couzins, the first female US Marshal…she was also one of the first licensed attorneys in the United States.
Sign at the entrance to the US Marshals Museum.
Some political strife, huh?
All this research is in an effort to write a series we’re calling Rocky Mountain Marshals. book #1 is Ambush of the Heart. Yes, Fort Smith is in Arkansas but my Marshals are in Colorado.
Leave a comment about trips that took you by surprise. I’m a big museum girl but you can talk about anywhere. One lucky winner will get a $25 Amazon gift card…in time for CHRISTMAS!!!
AVAILABLE NOW FOR PRE-ORDER.
RELEASING FEBRUARY 3, 2026.
We visited South Fork and learned a lot of the TV tricks they used to make the house, driveway, and other areas look bigger. It’s a beautiful place, but it’s definitely not as big as it seemed on TV.
I visited a friend in Montana and could not believe how windy it was all of the time. The winds were so strong it was very noisy. They were also cold, coming down from the mountains, even in August.
Ditto what Joye said about. Tombstone…I was on the same trip. ( She’s my sister)
I haven’t taken many trips. I take most of my trips in books. I guess my biggest trip was packing up and moving to Florida.
Jerome Arizona was an old mining town the family that owned it built a hotel for it’s employee’s which burned down in the 1930’s but you see all the pictures taken when it’s was all fancy I found it interesting that they built one out almost in no man’s land back in the day but the employee’s never left until the mine closed.
When I was young we went through under ground caves. It was a totally different world! I can’t remember what state we were in though.
We went to Oklahoma City and saw the Memorial for the bombing victims. It will take your breathe away. It is very moving.
We went to Expo 67 in Montreal when I was about 14. As a child from rural Indiana, I was surprised by the number of people, the beauty of Canada in general and fact that I was there.
I was there in 68. I still remember the huge innovative, modern, cubical apartment complexes and the computer screen phone call where you could see who you were taking to. Pretty amazing in 68 when we used rotary dial phones. This was even before doctors used pagers.
The last museum I went to was the Dan Gable wrestling museum in Waterloo Iowa. The museum is a well designed, maintained, and educational museum of high school, college,
Olympic and WWE. Professional wrestling memorabilia and personal history. Well worth the visit. I was surprised by how small the shoes/boots were for some of the WWE wrestlers!
We took a road trip, the last one before the girls moved on to better things. It was amazing with what we did but the best was my oldest reading Harry Potter while we traveled.
We went to see our son in Alaska around 13 years ago. I was in awe of how beautiful the landscape is and how big Alaska is.
Before my husband and I got married, he took me to see the ocean for the first time. He lived in eastern N.C. not too far from the ocean and I lived in western N.C. and had never been to that part of the state before. It was amazing to me to see that much water in one place, the rolling and rocking of the waves, and the beautiful sandy beach. I was used to seeing ponds, creeks, and streams. I enjoyed that trip very much.
A trip that took me by surprise was a trip to Alaska on our 20th wedding anniversary! My late husband and I couldn’t believe the areas we explored – Ketchikan, Juneau, and Sitka. Just the sheer landscape was beautiful! That special trip is one I will always remember. Precious memories!
We traveled a LOT during my childhood because my Dad was an Air Force Fighter Pilot and when I was young he was moved around for different training missions. It’s hard to say what was the most surprising place I visited but I can say I loved traveling and visiting all of the places I was so blessed to be able to see. Even when we only stayed in one place for six months, my Dad always made sure we saw as much as we could of each city, town or country.
I flew to Hawaii to meet my husband (military R and R). I couldn’t believe how large the ocean was. It was unending and the waves were so powerful. Definitely need to respect the power of nature. I didn’t expect the force of the waves.
I visited Tombstone, AZ a long time ago before it became so commercialized.
The streets were dirt, you could go into the O K Corral and the Birdcage Theatre. Now those are roped off to the public.
It was as if you would run into a rustler or cowboy around the corner. The walkways were wood and uneven to walk on.
That’s fascinating! I love visiting historical museums and places. I’ve seen Mark Twains house, and I also visited some Civil War sites.
Our School trip when my hubby and I were in Bible School. I love History. Our trip took us to Massachusetts where we visited the Salem Witch Museum, Boston Harbor, the Mayflower, Old Ironsides, The Plymouth Plantation and Rock, Bunker Hill, though, I started climbing the steps, I wasn’t able to finish. I discovered I am deathly afraid of heights. My hubby, who was my fiance’ brought me back down and then went all the way back up. It was a lot of fun. We also walked through the historic part of Boston. I would love to go back.
I had no clue there was a U.S. Marshall Museum! How interesting. I know and watched the Bass Reeves story.
We don’t take many trips together. He still works but is retiring soon and I’m on disability. I do travel to Florida to see my sister in North Captiva Island. Nothing to do but walk the beaches. We also stay in Kissimmee at a time share with my parents. Both are very relaxing.
I LOVE museums and antique stores but Mike doesn’t so I get to them far and few between……
I love this about US Marshals! I haven’t made it all the way through True Grit yet. Glen Campbell’s whiny voice gets on my nerves (though I do like his singing voice), and that girl gets on my nerves, too. I do love John Wayne movies, though, and GRIT is showing them all this week at 8 pm. Two trips that took me by surprise were my two trips to Andersonville. One I was with a friend, and it was sobering. The 2nd one, I went with my sisters and mom, and it was different, in that my sisters didn’t care about the history, which was surprising to me.
The Ark Encounter museum in KY is incredible. On that trip we also saw a Great Lake which was fascinating. We live near the Black Hills so theres a ton of museums and nature to see around here, which we love.
My first ever trip when I was young on a family trip to The Thousand Islands. Wonderful and memorable experience. We had a boat tour too.
Being raised on a farm with livestock and then married a farmer with lots of livestock there are no surprise trios/vacations
I so enjoyed your article! My husband and I visited there about 15 years ago as part of an overall Fall foliage trip to the Ozarks. We have the same picture of the “gallows”! First to mind as a more unexpected “extra plus” trip was during our visit to Glacier NP in Montana. We hadn’t realized quite the extensive degree of mining history there and the wonderful historical districts in some of the towns.
I haven’t really ever taken a trip by surprise. One time I went to a cat show, though that I have never been to before..
A road trip that will always be special and fondly remembered was driving to Leadville, Colo. This historic town was fascinating and exceptional. The opera house where we were fortunate to have the opportunity to enjoy an outstanding performance.
My favorite trip was my mom’s bucket list cabin getaway. We’ve traveled to the Smokey Mountains many times. Mom was given 6 months at the most from her 2nd time rare bone cancer. It was growing fast. She wanted a cabin stay with as many of her family as possible. Her 4 kids, 3 granddaughters, 5 great grands, her 2 sisters, daughter-in-law, and grandson-in-law took her! We mainly stayed at the cabin, talking, laughing, playing games. Just enjoying Mom! She didn’t get to see a bear, but she enjoyed her trip! She left us 5 months later but we know she is healed and with Jesus. We will see her again!
Love all the history of Ft Smith, thanks for sharing with us. We traveled quite a bit when we were younger, so hard to say what was the biggest surprise or unexpected event. One of the most memorable was our first trip to the Grand Canyon. It is hard to describe how awesome it is. This was before our daughter was born, so when she graduated high school and their class trip included the Grand Canyon, she called and was exclaiming about it being so amazing I said, I know. She said you’ve never been here, how would you know. I laughed and told her yes we have been there. She said I don’t remember it. I said, that’s because we went before you were born. LOL
haven’t taken any trips… more of a homebody myself but have taken a few day trips to South Padre Island and Corpus Christi with family
I’ve visited The Suomenlinna Sea Fortress a couple of times. There are no cars except maintenance vehicles and such, so it’s nice, peaceful place to visit. It’s built on isles, right next to Helsinki.
Many years ago we were looking for property in Montana and our real estate agent ended up taking us to see Pompey’s Pillar. “… (It’s a) sandstone formation famous for Captain William Clark’s signature and date carved in 1806, named after Sacagawea’s son, ‘Pomp’.”
I haven’t taken many vacations but my husband and I have enjoyed day trips and overnight stays at some of of our Kentucky state parks. Loved visiting Columbia, Kentucky and seeing the huge cannon and chain used by Confederates to keep Union forces from traveling the Mississippi river there. Less than 40 miles from my home is the site of Kentucky’s last Revolutionary War battle in 1782. Kentucky is rich in history!
A trip that amazed me was our trip to Alaska for our 45th wedding anniversary. The landscape is so beautiful and the glaziers are monumental! I enjoyed the history of people populating the state, the salmon run, the Iditarod, and Denali National Park!
When I think of surprise places I’ve been, I think of going to my first honky tonk in San Antonio. All the pictures on the walls of the various artists who had played there, the size & how nicely it was maintained, really surprised me. I love history & the vibe of the place, just the feel of all the people that had been there was something that I’ll always remember.
Zion National Park was a big surprise to me, it was so very awesome!
I live about 12 miles from Fort Smith and have visited Judge Parker’s Courtroom multiple times (my dad actually served on a jury there, but not in the time of Parker!) and the Marshals Museum once. Parker actually didn’t believe in the death penalty himself, but it was the law so he enforced it when it was called for…which was pretty frequently. A lot of the men he sentenced later had their sentences reduced to just prison time instead of death. There is a great book called Law West of Fort Smith by Glenn Shirley that gives a pretty complete history of Parker’s term. It also talks about the men he sentenced to hang, and their crimes, which were absolutely horrible. His hangman, George Maledon, did his job efficiently and made sure their necks were broken immediately and they didn’t linger and suffer, which is better than some of their victims got. And Fort Smith was a very safe place to be during that time, because the criminals feared Parker and stayed away.
I visited an old one room school house museum. It amazed me how small it was. Thinking about the history of the place…
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Mary. I have to say that I was disappointed to see the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. I personally did not feel that the bell should be placed in such a modern way. That is my opinion. Thank you so much for the opportunity. God bless you.
We live fairly close to Dahlonega, GA and used to frequent the town. Once on a day trip up there, the courthouse was open for tours so we decided to take one. While I was well aware of the gold rush in the town, it was cool to find out that the bricks used for the courthouse were made locally and because of that they actually have small amounts of gold in them. 🙂
When I was younger we visited the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL. It was so fascinating seeing everything. They had airplanes & other stuff from WWII, which I really enjoyed seeing because my Grandfather was in the Air Force during that war.
How very interesting! We went to Langtry Texas and we went to the Judge Roy Bean Museum that they have there, it was really very interesting, he would hold court in his saloon. Thank you for the chance.
Visiting Washington D.C. took me by surprise, there are so many museums and places to visit, it’s an amazing experience.
Merry Christmas Mary! We were camping remotely in the Arapahoe National Forest in Colorado out in the middle of nowhere. As we drove along a trail, we came upon a stage coach historic building that was preserved. We were speechless! It was like being in the 1880’s! Unreal! We camped there for the night and listened to the elk bugle.
I am always surprised when driving to National Parks such as Yellowstone and Grand Canyon how little traffic there is until you get to a visitor center. All of a sudden there is a full parking lot and more cars arriving. Where were those vehicles while we were driving?
I love all these stories! I’m wishing I could go to so many of them!!!
I took my grandson to Fort Smith this past summer. I was surprised how entranced he was with the history. He’s only 9 years old.
I was so excited when My Daughter and her family took me to The Great Smoky Mountains this year!
Hi! We enjoyed our trip to Alamo & the places around it. Have a good Christmas & New Year’s with your family. Enjoy your books.
Sorry I missed the giveaway, but glad I read the article. We are headed to Kansas City, MO in May for a conference and Fort Smith will be a day detour. There is much to see in that area and we will gladly add a few days at the beginning of the trip to visit some of these sites. Have another conference in Cincinnati on the way home and will check out more on the way home from there. Thanks so much for the information.
I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas.
I was amazed visiting my local historical society and museum in Utica last year. Naturally being Illinois, Lincoln and Wild Bill Hickock are stand outs but so many others too. I hadn’t been since elementary school when we toured the original schoolhouse. Some 1800s dresses impressed me most of everything this time.
We moved to Wisconsin for a pastorate. Not so far away was Peshtigo. They had a fire museum. The great Peshtigo fire was the same day as the great Chicago fire. It did more damage and cost more lives. The museum was tiny. Nit much bigger than my 2 car garage. But the docent was informative. We saw some neat things.