Howdy, The Western Arkansas frontier towns of Fort Smith and Van Buren were prominent starting points for overland emigrants using the Southern Trails to CA during the gold rush era The village of Fort Smith, Arkansas was first established near a "log army post"(?) in 1817. Abandoned around 1824, it was reestablishd some twenty years later. . Like other small hamlets and villages bordering the Indian territory its reported principal revenue was from the sale of whiskey to the Indians, as well as the white drinking population. Fort Smith was situated at the junction of the Poteau and Arkansas Rivers, with Van Buren was five miles below.. The Canadiain River's north fork flowed into its main stream, some 40 miles west of Fort Smith. After that, travelers faced a 800 mile westward trek to Santa Fe.(from Patricia Etter's "An American Odyssey").. In competition for CA emigrants with their Texas neighbors to the southwest, these frontier towns advertised widely in such as "Fort Smith Herald," "Arkansas State Democrat," "Arkansas Banner," "Arkansas State Gazette" and "Mississippian" to convince the public that through its domain ran the BEST route to the CA gold mines. I must have worked some because later on of the NY newspapers came out agreeing with them. As early as September 23, 1848, the Fort Smith citizens passed resolutions, approved by the Arkansas state legislature, petitioning Congress to authorize a survey and establish a NATIONAL road from Fort Smith to California. Even though a US Senate military committee, headed by Jefferson DAVIS, approved the plan, no action was taken. But the war department did order Captain Randolph B. MARCY to command an escort of dragoons and infantry for the protection of the emigrants from Fort Smith. This command included a topographical engineer named Lt. James H. SIMPSON. The command was to proceed(it left on April 4[9?],1849) from Ft. Smith 'along the valley of the main Canadian, by the most practicable route' to Santa Fe. The expedition's object was 'to ascertain the best route from this point[Fort Smith] to New Mexico and California"(Ark.St.Dem.-Feb. 9, 1849). Editor/annotator Ralph B. BIEBER writes in "Southern Trails to California in 1849": "Promise of government protection led many emigrants to choose the route through Arkansas as the best way to the gold mines. During the spring and summer of 1849 about 3,000 argonauts(another editor said 2,000 were encamped around Fort Smith by April, 1949) from at least 25 states assembled at Fort Smith and Van Buren.... The largest number came from New York and the southern states. Numerous river steamers were kept busy night and day transporting the gold seekers up the Arkansas to Fort Smith and Van Buren." On March 11, 1849, a prospective gold-seeker wrote from Fort Smith: "Here, it is said, we are on the threshold of the vast prairie, the immensity and solitude of which is only interrupted by a few wooded streams, and a single range of timber mountains. This will be a new life to me, but my heart beats with anticipation of pleasurable excitement during the trip... This place[Fort Smith] is crowded and I would suggest to emigrants coming up, to stop at Van Buren. It is a larger town[?}, and as much more business is done there, the goods are cheaper. Horses, mules and provisions, the latter in particular, those we now get here, were laid in at Van Buren."(Grant Foreman's "Marcy & the Gold Seekers.) Probably the first gold-seekers to arrive in Fort Smith were reported in the "Arkansas Gazette" on December 8, 1848 as, "Four emigrants from New York, with a mule team and all the necessary fixings, passed through Little Rock today en route to California. They intend to go with the company from Fort Smith." Reportedly, this company was the "Little Rock and California Assciation," - one of whose members was our friend 49er/diarist Robert BROWNLEE( Remember his winter of 1849 pack mule trip from Stockton to Agua Fria in the mud(doby?:-). Anyway, let's rejoin BROWNLEE as he writes in his journal: "We [Little Rock and California Association] were to rendezvous at Fort Smith, about 300 miles up the river(Arkansas?], at the mouth of the north fork of the Candian[river] which took us almost to Santa Fe. We stayed in Camp at Fort Smith some time.waiting on different portions of the train, which had to come 400 miles to connect with us, and the roads at that season were very soft and miry, it took them a long time. After a while, about the latter part of March[1849], some 60 wagons, with from four to six mules to a team, and each man with his saddle horse and rifle joined us.... "After a while we made a start[left Fort Smith on April 16, 1849], but the roads were very soft, loads heavy, and mules GREEN as well as the men...":-)). NOTE: For perspective: The first gold-seekers supposedly left western Arkansas in March, 1849, from both Fort Smith and Van Buren. They "journeyed along the Canadian river across the Pecos river to the vacinity of Santa Fe."(Beiber, So.Trails toCA). Sorry, a little choppy - from a bunch of stuff:-) Bob Norris in Dallas BNorris166aol.com>