Located in historic Fort Smith, Arkansas, where the U.S. Marshals launched across the Arkansas River to hunt fugitives in the Oklahoma Territory, this museum serves as a national center of heritage and legacy and includes 20,000 square feet of exhibit space, presented in three main galleries, which highlight pivotal times in our national history.
The Museum includes a store featuring books, gifts and keepsakes. Meeting spaces and classrooms are available for school and community use. A cafe offers Fort Smith’s first riverfront dining experience.
Other spaces include gallery spaces for temporary and traveling exhibits; spaces for collection care and storage to maintain the one-of-a-kind collection and pedestals showcasing movies, videos and artifacts clarifying facts versus myths. The building’s architecture also draws from classic moments in Marshals’ film and written history, from native Arkansas Charles Portis’ character Roster Cogburn from True Grit, which was based in Fort Smith, to Gary Cooper’s classic moment from High Noon with his Marshal’s badge stuck in the earth…and his mission completed.
