The first fort in the Ft. Smith area was established in 1817 to keep peace between the Indians in the area. it was later abandoned in 1824. In 1838 the U.S. started to look again to put a fort along the western border of Arkansas. This was based on unfounded fears that the Indians would attack white settlers. In 1838 they had picked three possible site to locate a fort on the border. This report looks at all three site and their pros and cons. There are several maps with this document. But of course we now know that Ft. Smith was selected as that site.