Now an industrial city of roughly 70,000 people, FORT SMITH, on the Oklahoma border, maintains a pronounced Western feel. Until Isaac C. Parker – the "Hanging Judge" – took over in 1875, this was a rowdy pioneer town uncomfortably close to Indian Territory, a sanctuary for robbers and bandits. Parker sent out two hundred marshals to round up the fugitives; in 21 years he sentenced 160 to death and saw 79 go to the gallows. Fort Smith National Historic Site on Rogers Avenue features remains of the original fort, Parker's courtroom, the dingy basement jail and a set of gallows (daily 9am–5pm; $3). Old Main Street in Van Buren, on the opposite bank of the Arkansas River, is a stretch of over seventy restored buildings that has been used in numerous Westerns.

Fort Smith's visitor center, Miss Laura's, 2 North B St (Mon–Sat 9am–4pm, Sun 1–4pm, tel 1-800/637-1477), is oddly housed in a restored former brothel and offers $1 trolley tours of the city (Mon–Sat 9.30am–3.30pm; every 45min). Lodgings in Fort Smith include the central Holiday Inn, 700 Rogers Ave (tel 501/783-1000, fax 501/783-0312, www.holiday-inn.com/ftsmithar; $75–100/$100–130). For good-value, tasty home-cooked Italian food, try Taliano's, 201 N 14th St (tel 501/785-2292).

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