We were up and on the road by 9 this morning and on to our first stop, Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Miss Laura’s Visitor Center was the home to the infamous “queen” of the first bordello to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Of the seven houses on “The Row” in 1900, Miss Laura’s is the only survivor and has served as Fort Smith’s official Visitor Center since 1992. The visitor’s center has a free tour of the house which was built in 1896. Several of the pieces in the house are original, while others are from the time period that have been donated. It was quite interesting and worth the stop!
http://www.nps.gov/fosm/photosmultimedia/g_vt_08.htmWe followed the Riverwalk from the visitor’s center to the Fort Smith Historic Site. Along the walk are several information signs telling the history of the Trail of Tears and the two frontier forts. The rock foundations of the original fort are visible before crossing the railroad tracks to the current fort location which houses the historic jail and federal courthouse of Judge Isaac C. Parker.
We watched the 14 minute movie about the history of the fort, as well as information about Judge Parker.
Between 1873 and 1896, 86 men were hanged in 39 separate executions. The legend is that the gallows could hang 12 at a time, but the most actually executed at one time was six.
We had originally planned to stay near Fort Smith, but it was early – just after lunch, so we decided to continue east. Rather than taking the interstate highway the entire way, we followed State Highway 64 for a couple hours. It was really pretty and wound its way through several small towns and the Arkansas wine country. There was also very little traffic!
Eventually we got back on I-40 and ended up going all the way to Memphis! We are camping at the Graceland RV Park. Tobey was a little bummed … we didn’t pack his blue suede shoes! Oh well, we will tour Graceland and the Gibson Guitar Factory tomorrow.
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