Places at the First Fort Smith (1817-1824)

The need to establish peace between the Osage and Cherokee led to the establishment of Fort Smith on the confluence of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers.

• Site chosen by Major Stephen H. Long of the Topographical Engineers
• Fort Smith was established on December 25, 1817
• Commander was Major William Bradford
• Visited by famous English naturalist Thomas Nuttall
• Name after General Thomas Smith, Commander of U.S. Army Rifle Regiment
• Abandoned in 1824
• Archeologists uncovered the foundations we see today in the late 1950s

 

Artist drawing of First Fort Smith

 

Foundation of the first Fort Smith

FOSM