Fort Smith in the Movies - True Grit released on DVD and Blu-ray

The Fort Smith based movie True Grit was released on both DVD and Blu-ray today and if you didn't see it when it was in theaters, I highly recommend it. It was nominated for a ton of Academy Awards and should have won some.

True Grit is the somewhat tongue in cheek story of a one-eyed Deputy U.S. Marshal from Fort Smith named Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. In the story, he is hired by a determined young girl to hunt down the man who killed her father. And while writer Charles Portis might have been trying to poke a little fun at Old West characters, he really achieved the opposite. Rooster Cogburn is a larger than life figure who portrays the reality of life on the western frontier much better than Portis probably ever intended.

The story begins in Fort Smith, where Cogburn is testifying in the court of U.S. District Judge Isaac C. Parker, the "hanging judge" of the Old West. From there it crosses the river into the Indian Nations (today's Oklahoma) and takes off on a fascinating journey to the Winding Stair region of the Ouachita Mountains.

Although Portis has said his Rooster Cogburn character was a compilation of different figures from the history of Fort Smith, in reality it seems almost without doubt that the deputy marshal was based on Union army veteran Cal Whitson, who became a lawman after his son was killed while attempting to apprehend an outlaw.

I've posted about Whitson here in the past, but it seems a good day to remember him. He was a hard fighting soldier during the Civil War who lost an eye in battle. Unlike the eye patch worn by Jeff Bridges in the new edition and John Wayne in the original, he covered his wound by keeping his hat dipped low on one side.

He was a well known figure in Fort Smith and rode out to apprehend outlaws hiding in the Nations many times. The U.S. District Court at Fort Smith was responsible for protecting the people of the Nations from roaming outlaws after the Civil War and Judge Parker - who actually opposed the death penalty, even though he executed more men than any federal judge in history - is usually credited, along with his deputy marshals, with bringing law and order to the region durng the turbulent Reconstruction years. Cal Whitson - the "real Rooster Cogburn" - was part of that heroic effort.

The new movie is a big closer to the book than the original, which is also one of my favorite films. Being a John Wayne fan, I wasn't sure what I would think of the new effort, but I have to admit that Jeff Bridges did a phenomenal job in the role.

I've added links above at left so you can order the new release of the film if you like. And if you would like to learn more about Cal Whitson, please follow this link: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/roostercogburn.

You can learn more about Judge Parker and the Deputy Marshals of Fort Smith here: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ARFS6.html

The "Real" Rooster Cogburn?

Charles Portis has said that the unforgettable character Rooster Cogburn from his 1968 novel "True Grit" was actually a composite of the Deputy U.S. Marshals that once rode out of Fort Smith, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that he relied heavily on a real life one-eyed marshal named Cal Whitson.

Whitson, in fact, was the only Deputy U.S. Marshal with one eye to ride from Fort Smith in the decades after the Civil War and there is much about him that resembles the character made famous by John Wayne. Rooster will be reborn later this month when the new version of "True Grit" hits theaters.

For those unfamiliar with the story, a young girl from Yell County named Mattie Ross seeks out a man with "grit" - in this case, Deputy U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn - to track down the man who killed her father. The two set off to Winding Stair Mountain (in Oklahoma south of Fort Smith) to apprehend the outlaw and bring him to justice in the court of Hanging Judge Isaac C. Parker.

The Rooster Cogburn in the book and movie is a former Civil War soldier who works as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in the Western District of Arkansas. Working from Fort Smith, the old soldier is missing an eye and is a rough and tumble character of the first order.

Calvin W. Whitson, similarly, was a former Civil War soldier who worked beginning in 1889 as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in Fort Smith. His father had died in Van Buren in a murder that strongly resembled the death of Mattie's father as described in the book. Whitson joined the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry (U.S.) in 1863 when he was still one month shy of his 18th birthday, but was discharged the following year after being severely wounded in action. The wound blinded him in one eye. He went on to work in law enforcement after his son was killed helping to apprehend an outlaw in the Indian Territory.

In an interesting note, while checking out Cal Whitson's military service record this week, I noticed that some of his service cards were transcribed by a government employee named "Daggett." The name is familiar to all fans of "True Grit" because young Mattie constantly speaks of her feared attorney, "Lawyer Daggett."

If you would like to read more about Cal Whitson, the man who may have been the "real" Rooster Cogburn, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/roostercogburn.