eFortSmith.com | HotStuff

There's no place like home. And there's no better home for the national museum being planned by the United States Marshals Service than Fort Smith, Ark.

Fort Smith is the only place in America the national Marshal's Service museum truly belongs and that's not just hype or wishful thinking. It's a fact that has been well-documented by a steering committee formed here early in 2004 to get the museum located in Fort Smith.

During the last two and a half years, the steering committee has worked diligently to come up with answers to all the questions the Marshals Service might ask us about why its national museum should be built here. To help answer those questions, the committee produced an award-winning DVD, 200 Years of Grit.

The DVD details economic benefits of locating the museum here, the accessibility
of Fort Smith to the rest of the country and the city's proximity to other nearby attractions, including the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. 200 Years of Grit also tracks Fort Smith's historic ties to the Marshals Service from the 1800s to date. The DVD was presented to the Marshals Service in January last year.

In May 2004, the steering committee, co-chaired by Claude Legris, held the first Descendants Day. Exceeding all expectations, the event drew about 500 participants
from five states, including Marshals Service historian David Turk. More than 73 descendants of marshals, deputy marshals, federal court workers and others connected with the Marshals Service from the 1800s to the present attended. Many brought treasured family artifacts to be scanned or photographed by Fort Smith National Historic site staff and volunteers, who also recorded oral histories and cataloged all the data that was gathered.

Descendents Day attendance indicated that the history of the Marshals Service could attract visitors from many states to a marshals museum here. Last year, an eight-member committee finally was appointed by the Marshals Service to select a site for its new museum and Fort Smith learned that three other, un-named cities also had asked to be considered as sites. But no site visits were announced for any of the cities.

In November, our efforts to land the museum were reinforced when two Marshals
Service representatives – assistant director Michael Pearson and Turk – responded to an invitation by Arkansas' congressional delegation to make a four-day fact-finding tour of this area. The tour included briefings on how the museum project could be successful for
the Marshals Service, for local and regional tourism and area economic development.

Local and area support for locating the museum here was expressed by numerous elected officials, business leaders, media representatives, financiers, foundation board members and a U.S. Marshals descendant willing to discuss donating land for project.

Until now, there hasn't been much most local residents could do to show their support for bringing the museum to Fort Smith. But the time has finally come for a showdown for where the museum will be located. The four interested cities are being invited to the USMS Headquarters in Arlington, Va., to vie for the museum. Fort Smith's delegation will be there June 27 to make to make a two-hour pitch.

Our local steering committee is working on Fort Smith's presentation, which state Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and 3rd District Rep. John Boozman have agreed to lead on behalf of what has now become a statewide effort to land the national museum.

And here are some ways all area residents can show their support. Go to www.fyifs.com and download the 8x10 Bring It Home sign and prominently display it at your home or business.

1. Get together with family, friends or co-workers at one of your favorite places and snap a photo of your group and your Bring It Home sign. Email the image to photos@fyifs.com. Your photo may be used in the presentation made to the
Marshals Service.

2. Attend any upcoming heritage-related events and show your Bring It Home sign.

3. Write a letter in support of the U.S. Marshals Service Museum being built here. Address your letter to John Clark, Director, U.S. Marshals Service. Send the letter to Tracy Winchell by mail, fax or email.Her addresses are:

Tracy Winchell
P.O. Box 1908
Fort Smith AR 72901

twinchell@fsark.com

or fax it to 479- 784-2430.

Please help us bring the marshals museum home to Fort Smith.

The Message is simple: Bring it Home