Butterfield Overland Mail Route Subject of Study by National Parks

The National Parks Service is conducting a feasibility study for the purpose of collecting data regarding the inclusion of the Butterfield Overland Mail Route in the National Historic Trails!  There is a public comment period, which extends through May 12. 2012.  Here's a link to the NPS website which details the project and give periodic updates.  There is a form where the public can comment. 

Potts Inn is located on the "Ox-Bow" Route from Memphis to Ft. Smith.  Note the map, below. 



 

Go to the National Park Service website and log your comments today! Let's get the Butterfield Overland Route recognized as an important historic trail through our great nation!

Logan County Ties

Before the electric chair, how did the state execute people?  The surest, most humane execution up until the time of the electric chair was by public hanging.  The last legal hanging in Arkansas occurred in Paris, Logan County, Arkansas, in 1914.  Pamelia Potts' family name was Logan, thus the Pope County/Logan County connection.  Here's a link to an article about the last public hanging in Arkansas. Last Hanging in Arkansas

Visitors can see the jail cell where Mr. Arthur Tillman was held until his execution and the gallows where he was hanged at the Logan County "Old Jail" Museum in Paris, Arkansas.   If interested in the murder and trial, there are books available for purchase that detail the whole ordeal. 



American History: What would we be without it?

    How many historic connections can you and your students find to the Potts Family and/or Potts Inn?  The Inn has stood for 160 years, and in that time has borne witness to much of America's history, good and bad.

 The Gold Rush:
     Mr. Potts was a pioneer, entrepreneur, and an adventurer.  He, like so many, rushed to California in the 1840's seeking his fortune in gold.

The Trail of Tears:
     The Trail of Tears proceeded through the River Valley, and Mr. Potts speaks of an encampment near his home (the earlier log home at the foot of Crow Mtn.).  We know that some of the Potts sons served in the Civil War on the side of the Confederacy.  We also know the Potts were a slave-holding family.      

The coming of the railroad: 
     Following the closure of the stage coach route, the railroad came through Arkansas, and the Potts Inn housed railroad workers, still serving in the capacity as an inn.

Revolutionary War:
     Go back further, the Revolutionary War.  General Washington's encampment at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania was on Potts land.  It was here, that Isaac Potts, a Quaker, a Whig, and a Tory witnessed General Washington kneeling in prayer in the snowy woods.  This encounter changed Mr. Potts views on the American "rebels" and on the war. 

Click here to read about Mr. Potts' encounter with General Washington as quoted to Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden.



Challenge your students to find more connections to the Potts Family.  What were members of the Potts family doing during the War of 1812? World War I? World War II?  

What artifacts are housed at the Potts Inn from these wars? 

Hint: check out the painting over the mantel in the ladies' parlor for a WWII connection!!!