RonnieAdventure #0726 - Fayetteville to Fort Smith, Arkansas

While I was in Fayetteville (population 93,949), I stopped by the University of Arkansas. The University has an enrollment of over 34,000 students and is an R-1 research university offering more than 200 academic programs across 10 colleges and schools. I also stopped by the football stadium and found that there is strong support for the Arkansas Razorbacks across campus. 

Terra Studios, located near Durham, is known for the "Original Bluebird of Happiness," a handblown glass bluebird that became popular in the United States as a symbol of joy and good luck. Since the 1980s, they have made more than 8 million glass bluebirds. There is also a six-acre outdoor park filled with sculpture gardens, murals, fountains, fantasy creatures, and walking paths, but it was not open when I stopped for a visit.

Just down the road was Lonesome Pine Quilts and Fabric, so I stopped to see if I could find any Arkansas-related materials for Linda. They had many different materials, but nothing representing Arkansas.  

South of Brashears, Highway 23 is known as "The Pig Trail Scenic Byway" and is a favorite among motorcyclists and sports car drivers for its many sharp curves and steep hills. Many riders consider this to be one of the premier motorcycle roads in the central United States. 

At the start of the byway, someone borrowed the colorful Ozark National Forest sign shown in tourist literature, but left the frame. Although the road is only 19 miles long, it feels like 50 when driving it. 

After entering Franklin County, Cherry Bend Trailhead is just off the highway and an access point to the famous Ozark Highlands Trail. It is also popular with day-hikers because of the many scenic attractions in the area. 

Further down the highway is The Cass Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center, which is operated in partnership with the United States Forest Service and the National Job Corps Program. The campus is a closed center where students live on-site and are subject to strict rules regarding their activities. Students work outdoors and participate in forest maintenance, trail work, conservation projects, and wildfire support activities.

On my way to the Trolley/Railroad Museum in downtown Fort Smith (population 89,142), I passed some beautiful butterfly paintings on the side of a building.

The Fort Smith Trolley/Railroad Museum in the historic section of the city is dedicated to preserving the city's trolley and rail history. One of the biggest attractions is a working historic trolley line that carries visitors along a track through several historic parts of the city. Even though the line passes Fort Smith National Historic Site, it is easier to walk the short distance. 

Historic steam locomotive No. 4003 was a USRA Light Mikado type locomotive used on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway ("Frisco") that was built in 1919 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at its Schenectady, New York, plant. It was designed for freight service with a 2-8-2 "Mikado" wheel arrangement. 

Train Car MKT 100162 is a former Missouri-Kansas-Texas ("Katy") railroad diner-bunk car that was built in 1938 and later used as a diner/bunk car for railroad crews.

Fort Smith National Historic Site in Fort Smith preserves frontier history associated with military forts, the Trail of Tears, and the infamous federal court of Judge Isaac C. Parker. The fort was established in 1817 as a frontier fort at Belle Point, where the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers meet, and at that time was considered to be the edge of the American frontier. 

Most of the buildings have been demolished, but a brick structure built in 1871 as barracks, later converted into a courthouse with a jail, is now used as the visitor center and museum. Exhibits in the visitor center include information on frontier soldiers, outlaws, deputy marshals, Native American removal, and law enforcement in Indian Territory. 

The role of Fort Smith changed with the advent of the Civil War. After a Confederate victory at Fort Sumter, the U.S. War Department abandoned all southern forts, despite pleas of concerned citizens. On April 23, 1861, Fort Smith was abandoned just an hour before the Confederate troops arrived. Then, after Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Union forces reclaimed Fort Smith in September 1863. 

After the Civil War, the role of Fort Smith changed from a military outpost to a federal court, bringing law and order to the "lawless Indian Territory" (present-day Oklahoma). The court had jurisdiction over serious crimes in Indian Territory, including murder, robbery, and assault. Judge Isaac C. Parker served at the court and became known as the "Hanging Judge" because of the number of death sentences he issued. 

U.S. Deputy marshals based at the fort traveled hundreds of miles to arrest suspects, which led to frequent violent confrontations with outlaws. More than 65 deputy marshals were killed in the line of duty, and 79 men were found guilty and hanged. 

Fort Smith's first jail was in the courthouse basement and was known as "hell on the Border." There were no beds. Prisoners were given a blanket and a pillow and slept on the hard floor. Restroom facilities were 5-gallon buckets, and the smell in the room was reported to be very foul. 

After journalist Anna Dawes started publishing articles describing the basement jail as overcrowded, unsanitary, and "a veritable hell upon earth," a new three-tier jail was built in 1888. 

The new jail was considered modern for its time, consisting of three stacked tiers of iron cells, each holding two prisoners. Prisoners were separated by the severity of their crimes, with the bottom level known as "Murderers' Row" or "Death Row." The jail was used until 1917, then abandoned. Portions of the cell tiers and jail area have been preserved inside the visitor center. 

No known photographs survive of Judge Isaac C. Parker's courtroom, but the room has been restored to resemble a courthouse from his time. Judge Parker heard more than 13,000 cases during his 21 years on the bench, and he sentenced 160 people to death, although only 79 executions were carried out. 

The Commissary has been restored and stocked with supplies typical of the time period. 

RonnieAdventure #0725 - Route 66 - Joplin to Noel, Missouri

When I entered Joplin (Population 51,762), Missouri, I noticed a Volkswagen that had struck a fire hydrant in front of a car insurance company's office. Fortunately, the water was recycled.

One of the most famous buildings in Joplin is the Garage Apartment, which Bonnie & Clyde and three of their gang rented and stayed in for 13 days. On April 13, 1933, police officers suspected they were bootleggers and decided to see who was living in the apartment. When they approached the door, the gang opened fire, killing two of the officers. After the gun battle, the gang was in such a hurry to leave that they forgot a roll of Kodak film from Bonnie's camera. When the film was developed, it contained pictures of Bonnie & Clyde and their gang. These were the first photographs the police had of the infamous gang.

Located in King Jack Park along Route 66 in Webb City (population 13,031) is the World's Largest Praying Hands Memorial, built with over 220 tons of steel and concrete.  Artist Jack Dawson conceived the Hands in 1971, but did not begin construction until 1972, completing the project in 1974. The Hands are placed on a 40-foot-tall man-made hill and reach 32 feet into the sky, reflecting "hands in Prayer, World in Peace."

The Bronze Praying Hands sculpture at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa weighs 30 tons and is actually taller, but the World Record Academy counted the man-made hill in Webb City as part of the structure, making it the "World's Largest Praying Hands Memorial." 

Also located in King Jack Park is the "The Kneeling Miner" statue, with the engraving "This Land is Blessed," from a poem by Bonnie Linebaugh. Part of the poem on the memorial reads: "This land where miners old and young labored hard each day..." The complete poem appears on a plaque placed next to the monument. By 1900, there were over 700 mines located within the limits of Webb City. The bronze statue honors the mining heritage of southwest Missouri and the hard-rock miners who labored in the local mines. 

Also in the same park is a 1903 monument by the Southwest Missouri Electric Railway Company that commemorates the interurban railway that operated across the Tri-State mining district from 1889 to 1939.

The railway system originally started as a horse-drawn streetcar line between Webb City and Carterville before expanding into a 94-mile electric railway network serving southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas, and northeast Oklahoma. Streetcar No. 60 is located in a nearby garage.

The Freedom Silo in Monett (population 9,576) is a repurposed 55-foot-tall 1890 grain silo and Monett's most recognized landmark, featuring a massive patriotic mural of a bald eagle and the American flag. Current restoration work is underway in preparation for America's 250th birthday celebration. 

When I drove through Cassville (population 3,190), the only thing open was the Whitley Pharmacy drug store, which had an old-style soda fountain with a long wooden bar where people could sit on barstools. 

Just across the street is the Barry County Courthouse, with several historic markers on its front lawn. One marker said that in 1858, Cassville was important because it was the last town on the Butterfield Overland Mail Route in Missouri before the stagecoaches continued south into Arkansas. The stagecoaches could travel about 100 miles in a day, with stops to change horses and take on supplies every 10-20 miles. 

When I drove through Noel (population 2,124), I could not help but notice a neon "Cars" sign on a used car lot. This really reminded me of the Cars movie that had such a great influence on this Route 66 trip, so I had to stop and take a picture of the sign.