Listing Through Life

Several of us went forth in search of the community of Bug Scuffle, Arkansas. There never was much of a town here — just a cluster of buildings around a stage stop on the Butterfield Trail. The name came, supposedly, from a time when people waiting for a stage witnessed a fight between two beetles on a pile of dung.

All that’s left is this church. The Internet says it still has a functioning congregation, but judging from the Christmas wreathes on the door and the dusty condition of the inside visible through the windows, I don’t think they meet very often.

Tuesday got off to a lazy start. Some of my fellow campers took off to find a cell signal. Others expressed a desire to sit and relax by the fire. I decided to walk the Devil’s Den Trail. I had it almost to myself.

The limestone cliffs along Lee Creek split away from the hillside, creating a series of crevices and small caves (all of which were closed on this visit due to a fungus that’s killing bats).

On the first morning of camping, I took a stroll from our site to the dam along Lee Creek. There wasn’t anybody around. The sun was just rising above the surrounding hills. It was a good start to a good week.

This chimney along Lee Creek is all that remains of the CCC mess hall. In the 1930s, men from the CCC built most of the park’s infrastructure — cabins, roads, bridges, trails, etc. Much of it remains in good condition. Ruins from the workers’ camp are visible in the woods near the chimney.

The dam was built by the CCC in 1937.

Looking south along Lee Creek from the top of the dam. The CCC chimney can be seen through the trees on the left. Our campsite was about half a mile around the bend.

Lee Creek and the Lee Creek Bridge. The chair sits on the remains of the original bridge built by the CCC. It was destroyed by a flood. It was right along here that I spotted my lifer Yellow-throated Warbler on my first visit to the park in April 1997.

We toured Fort Smith National Historic Site in Fort Smith, Arkansas on a quiet Monday morning. The second fort’s main role in history was as a supply depot for forts further west. The barracks building later became a federal district court building and jail. Judge Isaac C. Parker presided over more than 13,000 cases.

Among the 79 criminals who were hanged on the gallows was one named Robert Massey. Another was named Jack Womankiller. I’m guessing He didn’t stand much of a chance.

The Commissary, built in 1846.

The original fort was built on the shore where the Poteau River empties into the Arkansas River. It’s purpose was to keep peace between warring Indian tribes. It lasted from 1817 to 1824. There’s nothing left except a bit of stone foundation. The cannon in the center of the fort now has a trace of red paint on it. I have no idea how that happened.

The Frisco Railroad Station was built next to Fort Smith in 1904. It was used off and on as a station, restaurant and museum. It was recently acquired by the National Park Service. It wasn’t open when I visited.

Here’s what it looked like in its glory days.

Alma, Arkansas claims to be the “Spinach Capital of the World” because about half the spinach canned in the United States is canned there. This statue of Popeye stands in a fountain (turned off, probably for the winter) in a small park downtown.

A mural of downtown Alma in Spinach Park depicts what the town looked like in its heyday.

The town’s heyday is long gone.