Thank you, guys, for visiting! I've always wondered what the experience would be like as a first time tourist to the city. My wife and I like to hit up little towns and find flavor, too, but as a lifelong resident I couldn't see the area without bias. So, thanks for sharing! I hope you can return during the week sometime and delve a little deeper. You only scratched the surface. Downtown closes at midnight on Saturday and buttons down until Monday. LOL.
Thank YOU for stopping in our small town! I watched until the end. You had our Museum of History in the video and our Monument of Darby. YES, Ft Smith is sort of dead-on Sundays. There is action on Friday and Saturday nights, but not like it used to be. Covid really hurt downtown, and it has never recovered from stores and places closing. The city is trying to bring business back. There is a lot to see there. Our current Miss America is from Fort Smith, Madison Marsh. Fort Smith up against the river was the farthest that white man advanced in the old days as Indian Territory was not tamed or explored and so criminals dominated the land between Fort Smith and California. All of the U.S. Marshals sent out to the west came from Judge Parker of Fort Smith. Bass Reeves, Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok, Bat Masterson, John Armstrong and many more were all sent out by Hanging Judge Parker of Fort Smith. I wanted to share a video that we just published about Fort Smith being sister cities with Cisterna, Italy. You featured our Darby monument in your video and so Brigadier General Darby tried to save Cisterna Italy from NAZI Occupation in WWII. The battle was lost and Darby lost most of his Rangers, but his effort weakened the German defenses that surrounded Rome, and the allied forces were able to take Cisterna and eventually Rome due to the actions of Colonel Darby and his Rangers. Colonel Darby was killed later in Northern Italy in the last days of the war in Italy while riding his motorcycle to the front lines as he always did. He was in a huddle with his staff planning on an attack when an artillery shell exploded near him killing him. Cisterna, Italy never forgot his efforts in WWII and in 1984, they reached out to Fort Smith to establish a relationship as they named their main street and schools and landmarks after Darby as a sign of appreciation and respect for what Darby tried to do in WWII. The relationship was established in 1984 but had its ups and downs over the years. Covid shut down the foreign Exhange students from going back and forth from Grade Schools to college, but in recent years the city is trying to bring it back. Fort Smith just celebrated its 40 Year anniversary with Cisterna and that is what MY VIDEO is about here. Also, as I type this on Monday October 21st, 2024, our Fort Smith Delegation is in Cisterna as they are reciprocating the celebration there in Italy. So, our city of Fort Smith is on an upward trajectory finally and hopefully will be alive again! From Brian Baker Sr, U.S. Army Retired, Thank YOU for your video! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-faDl9xR7awI.html
