Arkansas
The Gateway to the Old West
A remarkable downtown park in the heart of Arkansas' second largest city, Fort Smith National Historic Site
helps bring the history of the Old West to life. It was here that Judge Isaac Parker and his U.S. Marshals
brought law and order to the frontier and where many outlaws and gunfighters met their end.
The Commissary Storehouse is one of the
surviving structures from the old fort.
Interior view of the restored Commissary
Storehouse
The barracks of the second fort on this site,
this historic building is best known as "Judge
Parker's Courthouse" because it was here
that the famed Old West "Hangin' Judge"
convened his court from 1875 to 1889.
Fort Smith was also the final stop for many
Native Americans on the notorious "Trail of
Tears." The site of the original fort overlooks
the Arkansas River. Across the River can be
seen Oklahoma, or as it was then known, "The
Indian Nations."
Fort Smith National Historic Site