The following is from the records of the War department:* A military post was established at Belle Point, Missouri Territory, in October or November, 1817, by Brevet-Maj. William Bradford, commanding Company A, rifle regiment. The site for the post was selected by Maj. Stephen H. Long, topographical engineer, and is thus described in his report to Brig.-Gen. Thomas A. Smith, commanding the Ninth Military Department, dated May 16, 1818: "This place (Belle Point) is situated in north latitude 35 degrees, 23 minutes, 12 seconds, at the junction of P0teau, 460 miles from the mouth of the Arkansas, pursuing its meanderings, and about twenty miles above the Osage boundary line."

"The situation selected for the garrison is secure and healthy, and affords a complete command of the rivers above mentioned. Its elevation is about thirty-five feet above the water, from which it is accessible by an easy ascent. The point is supported upon a basis of stratified sandstone, well adapted for building, and is surrounded by a woodland affording an abundance of excellent timber. The soil of the adjacent country is exuberant, producing corn, cotton, etc."

"In selecting the position a particular regard has been paid to your instructions, which required a site as near to the point where the Osage boundary line strikes the Arkansas as circumstances would permit."

Maj. Long's report was forwarded by Gen. Smith to the adjutant and inspector-general of the army, under date of May 16, 1818, with the following remark:

"The season being so far advanced, at the time of Maj. Bradford's arrival at the point fixed on for the occupancy of his command, that he was unable to do more than erect huts for his men last season. It is, however, to be presumed that he has by this time made considerable progress in the work, but of this I have not yet been informed." In December, 1818, the post was named Fort Smith, and July 4, 1819, the southern part of the Missouri Territory (embracing Fort Smith) was constituted the Territory of Arkansas."

The post was continuously occupied from the date of its establishment in October or November, 1817, to April, 1824. Re-occupied March 22,1833; troops withdrawn June 16, 1834; re-occupied July 27, 1838; troops withdrawn July 2, 1850; re-occupied March 14, 1851; troops withdrawn March 1, 1858; re-occupied December 18, 1858; troops withdrawn June 10, 1859; re-occupied September 19, 1860; troops withdrawn April 23, 1861; reoccupied September 1, 1863; troops withdrawn September, 1871.

The military reservation was relinquished to the Interior Department for disposition under act of Congress approved February 24, 1871, by the War Department letter of March 25, 1871. The cemetery tract is, however, still held as a national cemetery.

The original fort was located on the bluff just below the junction of the Poteau with the Arkansas River. It was inclosed with a wooden stockade and protected by large log block houses. Scarcely a trace of this old fort can now be discovered. It was inside of the line of the Choctaw Nation, for in the treaty with the Choctaws, in 1825, it was provided that the line between that Nation and the United States should begin "on the Arkansas 100 paces east of Fort Smith and run thence due south to the Red River." In 1838 commissioners were appointed to select a site for a new walled fort. They chose the location where the walls and other remains of Fort Smith now stand. In the same year Capt. W. G. Belknap, of the Third United States Infantry, with two companies of his regiment, built on Section 16, in Township 8 north, Range 32 west, it being the land afterward conveyed to Bishop Byrne of the Roman Catholic Church, and is now a part of the site of the city of Fort Smith. The quarters on this land were called "Camp Belknap," and were used and occupied by the troops until about the year 1842, when the buildings in the new fort were completed. After the site for the new fort was chosen, the Government purchased of Capt. John Rogers 300 acres of land, including the site. This, save the lands inclosed within the walls of the fort and the National Cemetery, has long been known as the Reservation. In 1871 it was transferred from the "War Department" to the "Interior Department," and finally, by an act of Congress approved May 13, 1884, it was donated to the city of Fort Smith "for the use and benefit of the free public schools of the single school district of Fort Smith." Of the original buildings erected inside of the walls of the fort, the only one that has escaped destruction by fire is the one now used by the United States District Court.

"Soon after the sale to the United States of the land upon which to erect the new fort, Capt. Rogers laid off the original town. The first buildings were erected on Front Street, which was on the river bank, and for several years all the business houses were on Front Street, or Commercial Row, as it was then called. Since then the original town has been enlarged by additional surveys of lots by Capt. Rogers, Griffith & Nicks, Dr. Elias R. DuVal and Bishop Fitzgerald. The business has extended up Garrison Avenue back from the river, and most of the residences are built on the high ground lying in the rear of the original town plat. The store-houses of Front Row have been long abandoned and gone to decay."

The surveyor who laid out the town for Capt. Rogers was Herald, the county surveyor of Crawford County. The original town extended from the river along the line of the reservation to La Fayette or Seventh Street, thence out La Fayette to the section line, and thence to the river, and thence with the river to the place of beginning. Since the address of Col. Duval was delivered, in 1876, several additions to Fort Smith have been laid out, among which is Fishback's Addition, the Reserve Addition and others. The original town, together with the several additions thereto, now covers about three full sections of land. Among the early merchants and business men of the town were John Rogers, sutler of the garrison, William Duval, Lewis and Edward Cznarnikow, George and Charles Birnie, J . R. Kennedy and George and Henry Beckel. Capt. Rogers kept the first, and for a long time the only, house of entertainment. The first church edifice (a frame building on a stone basement) was erected in 1847 as a union church, on the corner of Washington and Mulberry Streets. It finally went into the hands of the Presbyterians, who occupied it until their present church was erected. This old "union church" is still standing, and is now designated "Cleveland Hotel." When the town was first laid out there were various large ponds bordering on Garrison Avenue, where many business houses now stand. In winter these ponds were filled with wild geese, ducks and other wild fowl, and the early settlers had much amusement in killing them.

For many years Fort Smith controlled the principal trade of the whole Indian Territory, and was the chief depot for the supplies of western forts, and had the benefit of the trade of the officers, soldiers and employee of the garrison. However, the growth of the town was slow until sometime during "the fifties," when it began to grow more rapidly. In 1852 it contained only from 400 to 500 people. Johnson & Grimes were then in the mercantile business, in a house where the railroad depot now stands. Sutton & Griffith, William J. Weaver, Michael Manning, Dotson & Lynch, R. M. Johnson and Michael Henry were merchants about that time. The latter was a wholesale merchant. R. M. Johnson was a dealer in skins, and William Walker was a leading lawyer. From this time forward to 1860 the town grew much more rapidly, as will appear from the following business directory of that year, to wit: General merchandise, Sutton & Spring, M. Sparks, Bostick, Griffith, Pennywitt & Co., Reutzel & Emrich, J. & H. Beckel, O. C. Ward & Co., E. B. Bright, Lewis & Navra, Speier & Shane, D. W. Heard, J . B. Gridley and Brooke & Latham; groceries, Lynch & Dodson; clothing, J. N. Slosson & Bro.; drugs, Hamilton Cline; furniture, A. Haglin; boots and shoes, A. M. Callahan & Co.; liquors, Walton & Bourne, J. B. Gridley, John Horn and Cullum & Robinson; jewelry, James Battersby and W. H. Seward; hardware, J. C. Atkinson and Charles A. Birnie; house painter, Fred Gerber; hotel, City Hotel by J. K. McKenzie; manufacturers of carriages and wagons, Jerry R. Kannady, Poteau Mills, Boyd & Massey; livery, - Gardners; harness and saddles, John Gardner; Fort Smith Female Seminary, N. E. Shepard, principal; Fort Smith Academy, J. M. Ward and J. C. Stanley, principals; Fort Smith Male and Female Seminary, Valentine Dell, principal; select school, Mrs. P. E. Gardner; photography, G. W. Sisson; lawyers, Ben. T. DuVal, John King, J. W. Vandever, J. H. Sparks and Josephus Dotson; physicians, J. H. T. Main, N. Spring, E. R. DuVal, J. E. Bomford, William L. Beall and A. Dunlap ; dentist, J. N. Perkins; press, Fort Smith Times, by Wheeler & Sparks. In addition to the foregoing there were several mechanics' shops.

During the war the business of Fort Smith, aside from what was occasioned by the military, was generally suspended. Much of the town was destroyed, and when the war closed it presented an appearance of general desolation. During that unhappy struggle many of the citizens sought refuge in the South, and upon their return beheld the spectacle of ruined homes. This desolation, coupled with the enormous prices of the various articles of food, was enough to discourage "the bravest of the brave." The following is a list of prices current, published in the Fort Smith New Era of January 28, 1865, to wit: Flour, when there is any, $50 to $75 per barrel, or as much more as the seller's conscience will allow him to ask; other articles per pound--corn, 12 to 15 cents; corn meal, the same; sugar, $1; coffee, $1.50; bacon, $1; salt, $1; candles, $1; soda, $1.50; tobacco, 50 cents; dried apples, per bushel, $10; shoe blacking (small box), $1; whisky, 50 cents a thimble full (some say this consists three fourths of Arkansas water); gin, same as above; beef, per pound, 7 to 10 cents; wood, per load, $3 to $5. In view of these facts, it is a wonder that the people escaped death by starvation. None but those who experienced these privations can tell how they did it. However, the town soon recovered and began to grow and prosper, but its growth was not rapid until recently. In 1880 the population of the place was 3,099, and since then it has increased to 15,000, and the principal business houses, instead of being confined to the streets near the river, as they formerly were, are now located on Garrison Avenue. This avenue is 120 feet in width, and its fine business blocks compare favorably with those of much larger cities. There are located on the avenue, and on the cross streets near by it, the following number of business houses, to wit: Grocery stores, 46; dry goods stores, 22; clothing and gents' furnishing stores, 7; drug stores, 10; hardware stores, 10; furniture stores, 6; jewelry stores, 5; wholesale flour and feed stores, 6; wholesale liquor houses, 4; saloons, 37; restaurants, 22; boot and shoe stores, 4; auction store, 1; dollar store, 1;qneens-ware, 2; merchant tailors, 3; harness and saddle horses, 4; undertakers, 2;meat shops, 8; hotels - Main, Le Grande, McKibben, City, Avenue, Walton, Commercial, Iowa, West Point and a number of others; musical instrument stores, 2; livery stables, 5; barber shops, 11; gun-shops, 2; hide stores, 1;wall paper, paints, etc., 1; marble works, 3; book stores, 2; toy store, 1; book bindery, 1; bakeries, 2;lumber, sash, doors, blinds, etc., 3;banks - Merchants, National and American National; express offices -- Pacific and Adams; telegraph office -- Western Union. In addition to the foregoing, there are a number of smaller business houses in the suburbs of the city, and also several cigar and confectionery stores and fruit stands. The boarding houses are "too numerous to mention"; real estate and loan offices are also numerous. There are also a number of millinery stores, several photograph galleries and many other business houses.

Manufactories.-- Chief among the manufactories are the works of the Fort Smith Oil and Cotton Compress Company. This company was organized in 1880, with a capital stock of $225,000, and immediately commenced the erection of its buildings. The cotton compress and oil mill is a huge stone building, 800 feet in length and 175 feet in width. The average number of bales of cotton compressed and prepared for shipment annually is 40,000. During the working season, usually from 1st of September to the 1st of April following, the company employs about 115 men. The building, containing the company's cotton gin, is also made of stone, and is 50x500 feet in size. The company gins from 10,000 to 12,000 bales of cotton per year, and in the manufacture of oil and meal they consume about 10,000 bushels of cotton-seed. The number of bales of cotton compressed by this company each year represents the amount of cotton annually handled at this point, the greater part of which is grown in Sebastian County. There are several large "cotton yards" in the city for the storage of the cotton as it is brought in from the country. One of these yards near the cotton compress reaches from First to Second Streets, and is inclosed with a high stone wall.

The Border City Ice and Coal-Company was organized about 1882, with a capital stock of $50,000. The building in which they manufacture ice is made of stone, and is 60x90 feet in size, with a frame addition for the furnace and coal room. It stands between the railroads near the cotton compress. Twenty tons of ice per day are here manufactured, and sixteen men are employed during the season for manufacturing it, which is from April 1 to November 1.

The Ketchum Iron Company was organized in 1886, with a capital stock of $15,000, and their buildings were completed the same year. This establishment manufactures steam engines, boilers, saw-mills, sorghum mills, elevators, drills for boring for oil and gas, and all kinds of architectural iron work, and deals in all kinds of machinery, and gives employment to about thirty men. In consequence of the great demand for steam engines the company has begun the manufacture of fifty of these machines, ranging in capacity from twelve to thirty horse-power, to enable them to supply the increasing demand for the next few months. On the 1st of January, 1889, the company intends to increase its capital stock to $35,000. Thomas Ketchum is president and N. L. Wickwire is secretary and treasurer. Their trade extends through Arkansas, Texas and the Indian Territory. The city is also supplied with four large saw-mills, three planing-mills, and several extensive lumber yards aside from those connected with the mills, three furniture factories, flouring mills, and many smaller manufacturing establishments and mechanical shops.

Other Items.--The city is well supplied with gas and electric lights by the Fort Smith Gas and Electric Light Company. It also has a complete system of water-works, and a fine sewer system is under construction. It has about eighteen miles of street railways built and building. Its sidewalks are principally made of flagstone. It has the largest and finest opera-house in the Southwest. It has also a large fruit evaporator and a large canning factory.

In addition to its numerous churches and religious societies it has a Young Men's Christian Association. This association has a gymnasium, reading room and parlor, all well furnished. The reading room is supplied with a valuable library of choice works and periodicals.

Natural Gas.---For some months past a company has been boring for oil or gas on Mazzard Prairie, at a point about five miles southeast of Fort Smith, Ark., and finally their hopes have been realized by finding what is believed to be an abundant supply of gas. The well was fired on Saturday evening November 24, 1888, in the presence of a multitude of the citizens of Fort Smith and the surrounding country. The citizens of Fort Smith are rejoicing in anticipation of utilizing the gas to light their city, and for other purposes. It is impossible to state the supply of the gas at this writing.

A United States Signal Service Station was established at Fort Smith in June. 1882, and is still continued there. Corporal R. Q. Grant, a competent and obliging young man, is the observer. The city is in the latitude 35° and 22' north, and in longitude 94° and 24’ west.

The Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce, recently established, occupies rooms in the second story of a building on the south side of Garrison Avenue. Here may be seen specimens of the mineral, horticultural and agricultural productions of Northwestern Arkansas, the sight of which well repays the visitor to these rooms.

St. John's Hospital, at Fort Smith, was founded and established in the early summer of 1887, by Rev. George F. Degen, rector of St. John's Parish. It is under the control of a hospital guild, composed of citizens generally embracing all religious denominations, as well as having members outside of the religious denominations. "The officers of the hospital guild constitute a board of management. Anyone can become a member of the guild by paying 25 cents a month, and all members have the privilege of attending its meetings and discussing its affairs. Jews and Gentiles, Roman Catholics and Protestants of every denomination represented in the city, are found in the list of members." The first annual report of the hospital was published in July, 1888, showing that the efforts of its founder and supporters were rewarded with eminent success, there having been sixty-seven patients treated during the year. A training-school for nurses is now connected with the hospital. Mrs. Florence Wilton is general manager of the hospital and school. The officers of the hospital guild are as follows: Rev. George F. Degen, master; Mrs. Edith M. Degen, superior; Miss Laura Mitchell, secretary; Mrs. Alex. Walker, treasurer.

The National Cemetery at this place includes the original burying ground selected when the post was first established. It is beautifully located upon a hill overlooking the Poteau. Here rest in fraternal proximity the dead of both armies in the late struggle, as well as many of the citizens whose bones lie there. The cemetery is surrounded with a substantial brick wall, has a comfortable house for the quarters of the ofiicer in charge. Under the management of a war-worn sergeant it is kept in perfect order; the graveled walks, bordered by beautiful flowers, make it a fit resting place for the heroes who lie there entombed. The quiet which hallows that lovely spot, where those who wore the blue and gray sleep peaceably side by side, should admonish the living that the war is over, and that hands and hearts should be joined in oblivion of the unhappy strife. The ex-Confederates, by the permission of the Secretary of War, have recently erected a monument over the graves of Gens. McIntosh and Steen, both of whom were killed in battle. (Gen. McIntosh was killed March 8, 1862, in the battle of Elkhorn, and Gen. Steen was killed December 7, 1862, in the battle of Prairie Grove. The Confederate soldiers were mostly buried there before the United States Army took possession of the place in September, 1863. The officer in charge makes no distinction in his care of the graves. Of the Union soldiers buried in this cemetery, 521 are known, and 1,304 unknown)

Incorporation----Fort Smith was incorporated by an act of the General Assembly in 1842, and the first mayor or chief oflicer (according to the best information now attainable) was Smith Elkins, and John R. A. Hendry, Sr., was the first recorder. The records were lost or destroyed during the Civil War, thus making it impossible to give the names of the early municipal officers' in the proper order. Mr. Birnie, Joseph Bennett, John Striker, Jerry R. Kannady, R. M. Johnson, W. H. Rogers and R. P. Pulliam are remembered as having at various times held the office of mayor. The town was re-incorporated March 9, 1867, and the corporate limits were extended so as to include the additions laid out by Capt. Rogers, Dr. E. R. DuVal, and Griffith & Nicks. Since that time, as the city has improved, the corporate limits have been extended. Under a general act of the Legislature approved March 21, 1885, the city was changed from a second to a first class city. It contains four wards, and its board of alderman consists of two from each. The present city oflicers are as follows: Samuel A. Williams, mayor; James H. Hamilton, city clerk; Mat. Grey, police judge; John R. McBride, city collector; J. C. Peel, city attorney; John Kennedy and W. J. Johnston, board of public affairs; Henry Schneider, city weigher; T. H. R. Johnson, city engineer; A. C. Wyman, chief of police.

Transportation.--The Arkansas River is navigable from its mouth to Fort Gibson, sixty miles above Fort Smith, but it is only navigable for boats of ordinary size for from four to six months in the year. From the early settlement until a recent date the river afforded the only means of transportation, aside from pack horses and the slow process of hauling on wheels. Prior to 1858 the mail service was very poor, as the boats did not make regular trips, even when the river was navigable. In that year the great Butterfield California Stage Line was put in operation, and thus the mail facilities were much improved. Afterward the Star Route lines were made available. Before railroads penetrated the Arkansas Valley the goods were shipped by water to the river towns, and from thence conveyed on wagons to the towns in the adjacent country. In 1876 the railroad was completed from Little Rock to Fort Smith, and thus the river towns between these points were furnished communication by rail with the "outside world." From Van Buren this railroad swung around the bend of the river, entered the Cherokee Nation, and terminated at a point on the opposite side of the river from Fort Smith. The goods and passengers were then ferried across the river to the city. A depot was built at the terminus of the road. After crossing the Cherokee line the railroad ran a distance of about a mile within that nation, the oflicers of which objected to its location in their territory, consequently in January, 1879, the railroad company took up the rails from Van Buren to its terminus, and moved the road to the line it now occupies on the south side of the river. They also moved the depot from the former terminus of the road to its new terminus in the city of Fort Smith. The trains were then transferred on a boat across the river at Van Buren.

The St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad. was completed to Fort Smith in 1883, and for the next two years, until the bridge was built at Van Buren, the trains crossed the river on a boat. In 1887 this road was extended south to Paris, Texas, and the Mansfield branch of it was built from Jenson to Mansfield, in Sebastian County. The Kansas & Arkansas Valley Road gives Fort Smith connection with Wagoner, on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Road, giving connection with Kansas and the great Northwest. The Missouri Pacific system is building a line from Fort Smith southeast to Gurdon, on the Iron Mountain Road, and has the grading nearly completed from Fort Smith to Greenwood. The St. Louis & San Francisco has commenced building another line south of Arkansas River to Little Rock, and the Fort Smith & Dardanelle Road is also being built. In a short time Fort Smith will be a railroad center. Several mails now arrive and depart to and from the city daily, and the Western Union and railroad telegraph lines give it "lightning" communication with all parts of the country. It also has telephonic communication with all near surrounding towns.

The Press.- In June, 1847, John F. Wheeler issued the first number of the Fort Smith Herald, a weekly newspaper, and continued its publication as sole editor and proprietor for a number of years. In 1852 he sold it to an association to be converted into a Democratic paper, and as such its publication was continued until the approach of the war. After the war it was issued again for a time as a tri-weekly, by its original founder, John F. Wheeler, and then changed back to a weekly. Mr. Wheeler remained with it until 1870, when he sold his interest to Frank Parke. Its publication was suspended in June, 1879, for want of sufficient patronage. In 1858 the Fort Smith Times was established by John F. Wheeler and William Perkins, and in March, 1861, it was consolidated with the Herald, and the new paper, the Times and Herald, was continued until sometime during the war by John F. Wheeler. The latter died in March, 1880, at the age of seventy-two years. At the time of his death he was connected with the Independent.

The Thirty-fifth Parallel was established October 4, 1859, upon material of the Arkansas Intelligencer, previously published at Van Buren. The war coming on this paper also had a short life. Its editor was A. J Mayers. About this time, or soon thereafter, the Fort Smith Daily Argus was established, but it suspended in October, 1861. Its editor was George M. Turner. On the 8th of October, 1863, which was soon after the Federal forces occupied Fort Smith, the first number of the Fort Smith New Era was published by Valentine Dell. This number was printed on the back of a sheet containing Washington’s farewell address. Sometimes, until the lines of communication were opened up after the war, the paper was printed on foolscap paper, and on various other sizes. This was the first Republican paper published in the State of Arkansas. Mr. Dell continued its publication up to his death, which occurred October 10, 1885. He was born November 8, 1829, in Baden, Germany, came to America in 1846, settled at Fort Smith in 1859, and soon thereafter opened a high-school, and continued teaching until he established his paper. After the war he held many positions of trust, among which were State senator, postmaster at Fort Smith, and United States marshal for the Western District of Arkansas. In 1861 he married Miss A. A. Hunt, who, with nine children, survives him.

The Fort Smith Standard, a Union paper containing four pages of seven columns each, was established April 2, 1867, by James V. Fitch. Its publication was not long continued. In 1872 the Herald and New Era>/i>, both tri-weekly, and the Patriot and Western Independent, both weekly, were published in Fort Smith. In March, 1873, the Herald suspended as a tri-weekly, and continued as a weekly until its final suspension, in 1879. Another paper of recent publication in Fort Smith was the Times, which suspended in October, 1888. The only papers now published in the city are the Fort Smith Elevator, the Fort Smith Journal, the Arkansas Volksblatt and the Golden Epoch/i>. The Elevator was established by John Carnall & Co., and its first number was published November 1, 1878. It is now published weekly by Weldon & Weaver. It is a nine-column folio, and advocates Democratic principles. The Journal, issued both daily and weekly, was established in November, 1887, by the Journal Publishing Company, of which J. H. Clendening is president; Stephen Wheeler, vice-president; F. R. Conway, treasurer and manager, and James A. Miller and W. C. VanAntwerp, editors. It is an eight-column folio, and advocates Republican principles. The Volksblatt is an independent, eight column folio, published weekly. It was established in 1885, and is now published by Ernest Pope. The Golden Epoch, a weekly paper published more especially for the colored people, was established some years ago, at Helena, Ark., and was moved to Fort Smith in June, 1888. Messrs. Fisher & Clark (colored) are its editors and proprietors - It is a six-column folio, and advocates Republican principles.

Celebrities.--Fort Smith was once the home of the celebrated artist and sculptor, Miss Vinnie Ream. Before the Civil War her father, Robert L. Ream, was a member of the real estate firm of Carnall & Ream, at Fort Smith, Judge John Carnall being the other member. Miss Ream worked in this oflice and colored maps for the firm. It was here that her artistic skill was discovered, upon which Judge Carnall advised her father to send her to Italy to take lessons in the art of painting, etc. Her talents, however, were not limited to the art of painting, as she also turned her attention to sculpture, and afterward, as it is well known, made a bust of President Lincoln, for which Congress paid her a handsome price.

In 1860 Messrs. J. M. Ward and J. C. Stanley taught the Fort Smith Academy, as has been mentioned in the business directory of the city for that year. Afterward this same Stanley became captain of Company A, in Carroll's (subsequently Gordon's) Regiment of Arkansas Cavalry, and deserted therefrom at Roseville, Ark., about February, 1863. Good citizens of Fort Smith, some of whom are well posted, believe and claim that he was the veritable H. M. Stanley who has since gained so much renown for his explorations in Africa; but this, for various reasons, is extremely doubtful.

Societies. --The greater portion of the following Masonic history is taken from a pamphlet compiled by E. R. Duval and Henry Reutzel in 1871. On or about the 1st of December, 1847, A. L. 5847, a meeting of the Master Masons of Fort Smith was held at the house of Dr. Joseph H. Bailey, assistant surgeon United States army, and, after due consideration, it was determined to apply to the M. W. G. M. of the State of Arkansas for a dispensation to work. A petition was accordingly drawn up, and signed by the following Master Masons: W. Claude Jones, Leopold Loewenthal, Joseph H. Bailey, Samuel L. Griffith, John G. Reed, John Rogers and F. W. Daniels.

This petition was acted upon by Van Buren Lodge No. 6, and recommended to the Grand Master, who accordingly issued his dispensation, dated December 10, A. D. 1847, A. L. 5847, designating it Belle Point Lodge No. 20, and appointing the following oflicers: W. Claude Jones, W. M.; Leopold Loewenthal, S. W., and Samuel L. Griffith, J. W.

At 10 o'clock A. M., on Saturday, the 18th day of December, 1847, at the Presbyterian Church, Deputy Grand Master Thomas L. Johnson installed the officers, viz.: W. Claude Jones, W. M.; Leopold Loewenthal, S. W.; S. L. Griffith, J. W.; J. G. Reed, Secretary; George S. Birnie, Treasurer; Joseph S. Bailey, S. D. ; F. W. Daniels, J. D.; C. F. L. Henne, Tyler.

The lodge held its first regular communication at the house of Joseph H. Bailey, then living in the brick quarters at the post near the town. On Tuesday, January 4, 1848, at a regular communication of the lodge, Dr. Nicholas Spring, Mitchell Sparks and Jeremiah R. Kannady were initiated.

It appears from the records and tradition that the appointment of W. Claude Jones as W. M. was unsatisfactory; so much so that the Grand Master, through his deputy, Thomas L. Johnson, authorized the lodge to make another selection; and by such authority on the 21st of March, 1848, the brethren unanimously elected Samuel L. Griffith for the position. From December 18, 1847, to November 7, 1848, the lodge met in the Quartermaster's Building, Garrison, and from the latter date until January 1, 1853, in the third story of the St. Charles Hotel, at the corner of Ozark and Walnut Streets. On January 1, 1853, the hall in the Rogers Building on Washington Street was occupied, and on May 2, 1871, the lodge room was removed to Kannady's Block. On Monday, October 29, 1888, Grand Master Gee, assisted by Belle Point Lodge, laid the corner-stone of Baer Masonic Memorial Temple, now under construction on the corner of Sixth and Sycamore Streets. When completed the building will be three stories in height, the second and third to be used by the Masons. For the construction of this temple $10,000 was donated by Bernard Baer, now deceased; $4,000 by Dr. J . H. T. Main, $500 by the First National Bank of Fort Smith, 8500 by P. K. Roots and $2,000 by various members of the Masonic fraternity. '

Bellevue Royal Arch Chapter No. 8 was organized on January 28, 1853, and received a charter on the 15th of November following. The first officers were R. P. Pulliam, M. E. H. P.; A. Montgomery, E. K.; R. M. Johnson, E. S.; Thomas Vernon, C. of H.; Samuel Reed, Principal Sojourner; Thomas Sparks, R. A. C.; S. L. Griffith, M. 3d V.; W. W. Perry, M. 2d V.; F. H. Wolfe, M. 1st V. On February 3, 1853, the following members were initiated: Nicholas Spring, W. J. Weaver, C. F. L. Henne, George E. Bomford and Solomon F. Clark, and during the year there were admitted eleven others, viz.: H. McDonald, Francis N. Page, Jeremiah R. Kannady, Marcellus DuVal, W. W. Fleming, F. E. Williams, Asa Clark, Leonard Spradling, John Pearson, Nicholas Williams and A. J. Singleton.

Osiris Council No. 5, R. and S. Masters, was chartered by the Supreme Council, Twenty-third Southern Jurisdiction, on November 23, 1858, A. Dep. 2858, with the following members: R. P. Pulliam, Th. Ill. G. M.; S. L. Griffith, D. III. M.; N. Spring, P. C. W.; W. W. Perry, J. R. Kannady, William J. Weaver, Thomas Vernon, R. M. Johnson, C. F. L. Henne, Alex. Montgomery, F. H. Wolfe, George E. Bomford. No communications of the council took place from its organization until reorganization, December 26, 1866, but a charter was granted by the Grand Council of Arkansas on November 6, 1860. The oflicers at the reorganization were E. J . Brooks, Th. Ill. G. M.; R. M. Johnson, D. Ill. M.; H. E. McKee, P. C. W.

Jacques de Molay Commandery was organized under dispensation in Fort Smith, January 25, 1869. This dispensation was granted December 30, 1868, by Sir Knight William S. Gardner, Grand Master of Knights Templar of the United States, upon the petition of Sir Knights H. F. Thomason, S. L. Griffith, J. R. A. Hendry, William Byers, R. M. Johnson, A. McDonald, E. J . Brooks, H. T. Morton and S. P. Crawford, and the following oflicers were named by the Grand Master: Sir Edward J. Brooks, Eminent Commander; Sir Hugh F. Thomason, Generalissimo; Sir R. M. Johnson, Captain General.

Sir Knight E. H. English, Post E. C.; with Sir Knights S. L. Griffith, James A. Dibrell, Samuel W. Williams, J . M. Oliver, R. L. Dodge and Fred Kramer, of "Hugh de Payens Commandery" No. 1 of Little Rock, kindly visited Jacques de Molay," and aided in the organization of the new commandery, fully exemplifying the work in the various degrees. The first oflicers installed were E. J. Brook s, Eminent Commander; Hugh F. Thomason, Generalissimo; Raphael M. Johnson, Captain General; John H. T. Main, Prelate; James W. Donelley, Senior Warden; John W. Cunningham, Junior Warden; Thomas Lanigan, Treasurer; John R. A. Hendry, Recorder; Constant F. Bocquin, Standard Bearer; Jonathan Vaile, Sword Bearer; Benjamin F. Atkinson, Warder, and Franklin Rounds, Sentinel.

The origin of the foregoing Masonic societies has been given for the reason that the Masons were the first to organize lodges in the county, and many of them were prominent among the early settlers.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was the next to organize, and among them were also many prominent early settlers of Fort Smith and vicinity. The other societies have all been organized within the last few years, and are so numerous that space will not admit of an extended mention of each. Aside from the Masonic societies already named there are now the following lodges: Amity Council No. 555, American Legion of Honor; Oklahoma Lodge No. 25, Knights of Pythias; Fort Smith Lodge, Independent Order of Bnai Brith; Border City Lodge No. 1050, Knights of Honor; Fort Smith Lodge No. 4, A. O. U. W.; Fort Smith Legion No. 2, S. K. A. O. U. W.; Border City Lodge No. 21, A. O. U. W.; Humbolt Lodge No. 22, A. O. U. W.; Robert Emmett Branch Irish Land League; Thomas Williams Post, Grand Army of the Republic; Catholic Knights of America.