DESCENDANTS WANTED!
Fort Smith seeking blood relatives of federal court employees, U.S. Marshals Service, and outlaws

Progress on U.S. Marshals Service Museum Continues

FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS  (Fall 2007) – In an ongoing effort to document the history of the nation’s oldest law enforcement agency, a Fort Smith, Arkansas coalition is organizing an event for descendants of families associated with the United States Marshals Service  (USMS), and the United States Court in the Western District of Arkansas. “Descendants Day 2007” is designed for people to share their family stories and artifacts at an event scheduled for October 27, 2007 as a joint venture of the United States Marshals Service, the Fort Smith Public Library, the Fort Smith National Historic Site, and the University of Arkansas -Fort Smith.

Relatives of men and women associated with the Service – on either side of the law – are encouraged to share their family stories and artifacts from 9am to 4pm at the historic downtown Frisco Station Depot and the Riverfront Events Building in Fort Smith.

“Our National Historic Site staff is taking on the task of specifically seeking descendants of the Tribal Lighthorse and Agency Indian Police organizations,” according to Library Director Jennifer Goodson.  “Both of these organizations played critical roles in working with the U.S. Marshals Service in the 1800’s in this area,” says Goodson.  “The efforts of the Service were greatly enhanced by the contributions made by the Tribal Lighthorse and Agency Indian Police, and we want to help document more of the great law enforcement services they rendered to their own people and the U.S. Marshals Service.”

Descendants Day 2007 also hopes to attract descendants of African-American deputy marshals who served in Fort Smith, including Bass Reeves, John Garrett, and Rufus Cannon.

A series of speakers will also present sessions on a variety of topics related to USMS history throughout the day.  The event is free and open to the public. In addition, the United States Marshals Service (USMS) will be hosting a symposium on Friday night, October 26. Details on this companion event will be communicated through the USMS Historian from the Service headquarters office in the coming weeks.

For more information about Descendants Day events, call the Fort Smith Public Library, (479) 783-0229.  If you have information about the Tribal Lighthorse or Agency Indian Police or

African-American deputy marshals, please call the Fort Smith National Historic Site at (479) 783-3961/ E Mail fosm_descendants_day@nps.gov or for any U.S. marshal or deputy marshal, the U.S. Marshals Historian David S. Turk at (202) 307-9065/ E Mail david.turk@usdoj.gov.

Fort Smith was named the host city for the establishment of the United States Marshals Service national museum last January, and it is hoped that information and artifacts documented during the “Descendants Day” event will prove useful to the content and/or creation of exhibits for the museum.  Information would augment the existing artifacts owned by the USMS, covering the Service’s 217 year history.