Crawford County Courthouse - A Civil War Landmark in Van Buren, Arkansas

Crawford County Courthouse

One of the most beautiful old structures in the Arkansas River Valley, the historic Crawford County Courthouse is believed to be the oldest courthouse in active use west of the Mississippi River.

The original portion of the building was completed in 1842 and was just seven years old when Van Buren and neighboring Fort Smith became major jumping off points for "Forty-Niners" heading west during the California Gold Rush of 1849. During the early months of that year the population of Van Buren almost doubled when an estimated 1,000 prospective miners showed up in Van Buren ready to start their journey across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains to California.

The land on which the Crawford County Courthouse stands was donated by John Drennan and David Thompson. The two town founders had purchased the site for Van Buren from Thomas Phillips for $11,000 and the town itself was surveyed in 1837. The community actually existed to some degree before then. People had been living in and around what became Van Buren since 1819.

Historical Marker at Crawford County Courthouse

One of the most noted cases considered in the courthouse took place in 1857 when Apostle Parley Parker Pratt, a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-Saints (Mormon) appeared there after being arrested in the Cherokee Nation of what is now Oklahoma. A member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of his church, Pratt was accused of various charges related to his marriage to Eleanor McLean. One of his twelve wives, Eleanor had not divorced her previous husband. Pratt was released after being held in Van Buren for five days, but a lynch mob caught up with him at the Wynn farm near Alma and brutally murdered him. (Please click here to learn more about the Murder of Parley P. Pratt).

Crawford County Courthouse

The courthouse was 20 years old when Union troops attacked Van Buren on December 28, 1862. The Confederate army of General Thomas Hindman had marched north from the town earlier that month in a campaign across the Boston Mountains that culminated at the Battle of Prairie Grove. Unable to defeat the Federal army of Generals James G. Blount and Francis J. Herron, Hindman had fallen back across the mountains to Van Buren. When the Union army had recovered sufficiently from the massive battle in Northwest Arkansas, it pursued the Confederates south to the Arkansas River.

One-Room School of Albert Pike is on the Courthouse grounds

On December 28th the Federals emerged from the mountains at Dripping Springs in northern Crawford County. After a sharp skirmish there, they pursued retreating Confederates south into Van Buren. A running battle took place right through the center of town down the street directly in front of the historic courthouse. (Please click here to learn more about the Battle of Van Buren.)

Confederate forces across the river shelled Van Buren that afternoon, but the Crawford County Courthouse survived the battle. Thousands of pages of the county's records, however, were destroyed during the brief Union occupation.

A fire attributed to arsonists gutted the historic courthouse in 1877, sparking a fight between Van Buren and nearby Alma over which should be the county seat. Van Buren won and the courthouse was rebuilt within its still standing walls. It continues to serve the residents of Crawford County to this day.

To learn more about historic Van Buren, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/vanburen.

Traveler from Fort Smith describes "Trophy" of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

19th Century Engraving of the Mountain Meadows Massacre

As late as February of 1861, the frontiers remained stunned by the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a bloody slaughter that took place when Mormon militia and Indian allies attacked a wagon train making its way from Arkansas to California near present-day St. George, Utah.

The attack on members of the Fancher-Baker party came on September 11, 1857, as they were driving a herd of hundreds of cattle west to California where beef was desperately needed in the golf fields. Noted Mormon or L.D.S. missionary Parley Pratt had recently been killed in Arkansas and the tension between the Mormon emigrants who had settled in Utah and the United States was growing. For reasons that continue to be debated today, militia members and their Indian allies attacked the wagon train, took the cattle and other supplies, and killed an estimated 120 or more members of the party. Only 18 small children were spared to be adopted into local Mormon families. They were subsequently taken into the custody of the U.S. government and returned to their families in Arkansas.

Arkansas Grave of Parley Parker Pratt

In February of 1861, a traveler from Fort Smith reached Stockton, California, with the gruesome story of having seen a riata or lasso made from the hair of the victims of the massacre:

A RIATA MADE OF WOMAN’S HAIR. – The Stockton (California) Republican learns that Mr. Connolly, who has just returned from Fort Smith, Arkansas, via Salt Lake, reports having seen a Texan purchase a riata one hundred feet in length of an Indian, for which he paid $20. The hair from which it was made was shorn from the heads of the women who were slain at the ever-to-be-rememebred massacre of the Mountain Meadows. The gentleman states that the riata was one of the most beautiful ever beheld, even while the scene of cold-blooded slaughter rose to his view as he looked upon this trophy of the savages and their Mormon allies, worse than savages. - Various Newspapers, February 1861.

Only one person was ever punished by man for his role in the massacre. John D. Lee, a leader in the Mormon militia at Mountain Meadows, was executed after the Civil War after being convicted of murder.

Beaver Bridge in Arkansas

There are several places in Arkansas where more can be learned about the events leading to the massacre. A monument to the victims stands in Harrison in northern Arkansas, where many of the members of the ill-fated party had lived prior to joining the wagon train. At Beaver near Eureka Springs, although few visitors realize it, the picturesque Beaver Bridge - often called the "Golden Gate of Arkansas" - spans the White River at the point where members of the Fancher-Baker party waded across during the early stages of their journey west. Learn more about the beautiful bridge and early history of the crossing at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/beaverbridge.

Also of interest is the monument near Alma and Van Buren marking the grave of slain LDS leader Parley Pratt, who was killed in Crawford County in May of 1857 (the same year as the massacre) by a part of vigilantes headed by the irate first husband by one of his plural wives. You can read more about the murder and monument by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/parleypratt.

Parley P. Pratt Grave Site - Alma, Arkansas

With the exception of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, perhaps the most widely reported episode leading up to the War Between the States was the U.S. Army's campaign against the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah.

Called the Mormon or Utah War, the anti-climactic campaign involved key officers of the U.S. Army and consisted of a long and difficult march across the Great Plains to Utah, where President Franklin Buchanan had come to believe that Brigham Young and his followers were spoiling for a war with the United States. The LDS Church members had organized a large militia force, a small portion of which was involved in one of the most tragic incidents of the 19th century.

At a place called Mountain Meadows in Southern Utah, a small force of militia joined with local Native American warriors to attack and massacre a large party of emigrants who were making their way from Arkansas to California. After suffering through an ambush and siege, the members of the Baker-Fancher wagon train were convinced to surrender on September 11, 1857. Every adult and teen in the party was then slaughtered without mercy. At least 120 died.

It has never been conclusively proved, but many researchers believe that the massacre was instigated in part by an incident that took place in Crawford County, Arkansas, in 1857. Parley P. Pratt, a key leader of the LDS Church and member of its Council of Twelve Apostles was brutally murdered by Hector McLean and six other men on the Wynn farm near present-day Alma.

McLean was the estranged husband of one of Pratt's twelve wives, a woman named Eleanor McLean. Pratt had been arrested near Fort Gibson in the Cherokee Nation after McLean swore out a writ against him, accusing him of theft. The items allegedly stolen were the clothes being worn by Eleanor's children. Brought to Van Buren, he appeared in court and was released. Realizing that McLean was hard on his trail, Pratt hoped to avoid violence by riding alone north into the Boston Mountains and then hitting a road back into the Cherokee Nation.

Instead, he was cornered just off today's Interstate 540 by McLean and six of his followers. Without arms to defend himself, the LDS apostle was stabbed and shot. He died about two and one-half hours later. He was buried on the Wynn farm, where the grave site is marked today by a stone memorial. His murder has been listed by some writers as one of the reasons LDS Church members in southern Utah took it upon themselves to slaughter the Arkansas emigrants.

To learn more about the assassination of Parley P. Pratt and his grave site near Alma, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/parleypratt.