11/27/2021

November 25-27, 2021 Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful.

We had a quiet one here at the park.  Andy has been battling a cold since Nashville and I woke up with it on Thanksgiving.  So he is slowly on the mend and I am holding my own.

I had no big sightseeing plans for this area so it was good to just hang out and rest.

The weather has been mostly beautiful although cool and the park has been relatively empty.

2021-11-26 OK Belle Starr LK Eufaula (8)

Every day, there was a beautiful sunset over Lake Eufaula:

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Tomorrow we are heading to Oklahoma City for a few days to explore – hopefully we will both be well.

Stay tuned and enjoy today.

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November 24, 2021 Travel to Eufaula Lake,Oklahoma

We left our beautiful little spot and headed west:

2021-11-24 A AR I-40 (1)

Into Oklahoma:

2021-11-24 B OK I-40 (2)

Past many farms and cows:

2021-11-24 B OK I-40 (5)

2021-11-24 B OK I-40 (16)

It was VERY WINDY and Andy did a great job of getting us to Belle Starr ACOE Campground by Eufaula, Oklahoma.

Another beautiful site:

2021-11-24 C OK Eufaula COE (2)

And this park is almost empty:

2021-11-24 C OK Eufaula COE (3)

The wind created white caps on the Lake:

2021-11-24 C OK Eufaula COE (6)

2021-11-24 C OK Eufaula COE (9)

A cold front is coming in tonight so we are settling down and just hanging out.  We will be here for a few days so enjoy today.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVE!

Stats:

Miles Traveled: 98.3

Routes Traveled:

Arkansas: SR-59; I-540; I-40

Oklahoma: I-40; US-69; SR-150; N4200 Road

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November 20-23, 2021 Fort Smith, Arkansas Part 2

Most ACOE (Army Corp of Engineers) campgrounds are right by a dam or a lock and dam.  Our campground, Springhill, was near a lock and one day we were lucky enough to see the barges go thru.

The tugboat is now in the lock and the barges have already gone thru.

2021-11-22 A AR Springhill Park Lock and Dam 13 (1)

The water is being lowered for the tug:

2021-11-22 A AR Springhill Park Lock and Dam 13 (4)

He is almost there:

2021-11-22 A AR Springhill Park Lock and Dam 13 (8)

The lock has opened and he is connecting:

2021-11-22 A AR Springhill Park Lock and Dam 13 (12)

Getting ready:

2021-11-22 A AR Springhill Park Lock and Dam 13 (17)

On his way:

2021-11-22 A AR Springhill Park Lock and Dam 13 (18)

There he goes:

2021-11-22 A AR Springhill Park Lock and Dam 13 (23)

And he is gone.

2021-11-22 A AR Springhill Park Lock and Dam 13 (27)

You cannot see it from the pictures but the tug was pushing 9 barges – 3x3 – Amazing!

We had some beautiful days here.   Andy out on his bike:

2021-11-23 B Springhill Campground (6)

The Massard Creek is right behind us.  It flows into the Arkansas River:

2021-11-23 C Springhill Campground (4)

Beautiful cranes:

2021-11-23 C Springhill Campground (23)

And horses:

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And ducks:

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And Pelican?:

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Just taking a stroll:

2021-11-23 C Springhill Campground (213)

Before this trip, I was going to get a new camera because a lot of my shots are very blurry.  I do have a back up lens with me so decided to try it out.  I did some action shots on auto and I am a little pleased with them. Still not as sharp as I like so I need to relearn the rest of it.  (And it may be me too!) Phones definitely spoiled me.

2021-11-23 C Springhill Campground (23)

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2021-11-23 C Springhill Campground (44)

Tomorrow we are heading west to Oklahoma so stay tuned and enjoy today.

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November 20-23, 2021 Fort Smith, Arkansas Part 1

(I have divided our time here into 2 parts, mainly because of the pictures.  Part 1 is about our day at the Fort Smith National Historic Park.)

On Monday, 22nd, we visited Fort Smith National Historic Park.

“The fort was initially established in 1817 to keep the peace between the Cherokee and Osage tribes.  As the Indian Territory boundary was moved, Fort Gibson was established and the garrison was moved there.

The new fort was built in the 1840’s  and over the years became a supply depot to equip military units marching to the Rio Grande and to supply frontier posts in Indian Territory.  During the Civil War, the Confederate Army used the fort as a major supply base and defensive bastion protecting Southern interests in Arkansas and Indian Territory.

Once the war was over and the U.S Lands moved further west, the Fort became the United States District Court of the Western District of Arkansas The jurisdiction of the United States District Court of the Western District of Arkansas was a vast area encompassing western Arkansas and the entire Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma. Here, tribal courts had no jurisdiction over non-Indian settlers. This legal detail gave an advantage to the most desperate breed of outlaw, who found refuge beyond the pale of justice and could murder and steal with little fear of retribution. To bring offenders to justice, a federal marshal and a number of deputies, never more than 200 strong, combed this wilderness. When fugitives were apprehended, they were taken to Fort Smith for trial.”

That is the short version and there is a wonderful longer version here:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ar-fortsmith/

We started at the visitor center, the site of the old courthouse:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (58)

This is what we saw when we walked thru the doors:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (1)

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (2)

When I asked the ranger why the lady had a mask but the man did not, she just laughed and told us one of the visitor’s put masks on both of them and the one probably fell off – LOL

We started with the introductory film and then explored the downstairs museum:

Layout of the old fort:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (3)

The courthouse basement of the new fort was the jail – very inhumane.  This was the chamber pots:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (11)

The guard sat in this cage that had an opening to the outside:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (14)

Another picture of the jail:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (16)

Eventually a new jail was constructed and the prisoners moved.  The second floor museum had a replica of the new jail – three floors:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (17)

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2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (22)

The second floor museum was in three parts.  The first part was about the jail, the lawlessness of that time, and the federal marshals.  The second was a timeline of the part the fort played in our history.  The third part was the courtroom where the trials were held:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (54)

One thing we have learned is that many museums have an audio tour and most of the times they are free.  We really enjoy them because they give so much more information.  It is like taking a ranger led walk/talk.

From there we walked the parade ground:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (62)

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (85)a

The Commissary had a few different uses over the lifetime of the fort including; food storage, a barracks for troops, federal court offices, a private residence, and the city’s first museum of history.  It is Fort Smith’s oldest building.

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (71)

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (67)

Love this wagon! It symbolizes Fort Smith’s place in history as a supply depot for western expansion:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (82)

The courthouse that houses the museum and visitor center:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (84)

The gallows:

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From there we took the river route and walked to the old fort.

The 1834 boundary between Arkansas and Indian Territory:

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Our walking path:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (123)

The Arkansas River:

2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (110)

The trees here are huge:

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That is me standing by one of the trees:

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The original fort:

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The original stone work:

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2021-11-22 B Fort Smith Historic Park (159)

We had a great time learning more history and enjoying the beautiful day.

Part 2 is coming up.

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