Judge Parker’s Court (maybe)

Yesterday we drove to Fort Smith, Arkansas and visited the Fort Smith historic site. It’s not particularly photogenic, but it is very interesting. It served as the peace keeping force for the Indian Territories created by Thomas Jefferson. Later it served as the site where federal justice was dispensed. Judge Parker is famous for being a hanging judge. On the other hand, he presided over a court that heard thousands of murder and rape cases over a period of 21 years. Here’s a picture of Judge Parker’s courthouse. The most amazing thing about this room is that it is totally made up. That’s right. The accuracy-obsessed National Park Service created this room out of thin air. It seems there was no documentation, sketches, or photos of the Judge’s court.

Fort Smith Gallows

Today we drove to Memphis, passing through Little Rock. In Little Rock, we visited Clinton’s Presidential Library. If you ever have the chance, you should visit. It’s an amazing place, no matter what your political leanings. This place is so un-photogenic that I didn’t take a single picture. So instead, here’s a picture of the gallows at Fort Smith.

The library’s architecture is some of the worst I’ve seen. But the content overcomes the building. Even though this is an awesome place, they wouldn’t let us eat here. So we took a detour to a small town’s park for our lunch snack. It got us off the interstate and gave us a ha’f hour’s relaxed ride into Memphis. I imagine this should be a good town for night life. But I’m more interested in a good night’s rest. I doubt I will have any more to say about Memphis in tomorrow’s blog.