KATV:
Baridi Nkokheli, the former Fort Smith Sanitation Director whose impersonation of legendary lawman Bass Reeves helped raise awareness of the historic figure and money for a Reeves statue now in downtown Fort Smith, has died.
Tag: History
Activist Pushes Back On Claims He’s Not Kin To Robert E. Lee
Rev. Rob W. Lee, an anti-racism and social justice advocate, and his family are rebuking claims from Confederate Civil War buffs that they aren’t distant relatives of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The North Carolina pastor has called for the removal of monuments dedicated to the general he says is his slaveholding ancestor. Confederate apologists have disputed his family connection to the general, and he says he’s been bombarded with death threats.
Rob W. Lee provided Axios a nearly 400-page family genealogy report gathered by a hired genealogist that ties him to Lee over multiple generations using a zig-zag of births and family marriages.
“The Reverend” Rob Lee—a Cultural Marxist propagandist who has attempted to make a name for himself by dumping all over his alleged ancestors to score points with historical illiterates—is still a liar and a fraud. His claim to fame is that he is a descendant of General Robert E. Lee, but he is not. Nor is he a nephew of the General, as he has also falsely claimed. After being exposed as a liar and a fraud, he has now returned with 400 pages worth of bullcrap to explain that he is distantly-related to the General.
Well, who isn’t?
I am descended from more than a dozen Civil War veterans, and I could list them all, along with the units they served in, in addition to detailing how I am descended from them, in a page or less. I would not need to hire anyone to do it for me. I would not need 400 pages to do it.
Apparently, the race-baiting “reverend” Rob is simply hoping that no one notices how far he had to move the goal post in order to continue pretending that he has some sort of clout or authority to speak about General Lee.
Fort Smith Asks For Reconsideration In Park Display Removal Suit
Circuit Judge Gunner DeLay concluded the hearing by saying he would research the law regarding the issues raised by attorney Colby Roe, who represented the city, and inviting Roe to provide further legal precedent on the matter. DeLay noted he probably wouldn’t get to this again until next week.
Attorney Joey McCutchen filed a lawsuit June 3 accusing the city of violating the Arkansas State Capitol and Historical Monument Protection Act by removing the Flags Over Fort Smith display and not replacing it or obtaining a waiver within 60 days. The law took effect April 29.
DeLay filed an order Oct. 4 stating the city violated the Monument Protection Act through its “continued refusal” to request a waiver from the Arkansas History Commission to determine the disposition of the display, which the court found to be a “historical monument” as defined by state law.
Fort Smith Residents Hold Vigil One Year After Jan. 6 Insurrection
The non-partisan gathering was described as an opportunity for “reflection on the events that threatened our democracy and freedom as voters, and an invitation to vigilance” in an email.
How silly. There was, of course, no “insurrection” on January 6, 2021. No one threatened “our democracy,” or the freedom to vote. It does seem like we finally learned the purpose of the Q-Anon operation on that day, though.
Fort Sill’s Candlelight Stroll Takes Visitors To 1870s
Fort Sill’s Old Post Quadrangle was transformed back into a frontier Army post during the annual holiday Candlelight Stroll Dec. 5.
About 115 visitors took the free guided tour of the Guardhouse, Cavalry Barracks, Sherman House and the Old Post Chapel.
Museum staff from the Field Artillery Museum and Air Defense Artillery Museum, along with volunteers re-enacted the history of these four buildings in the 1870s. Visitors heard about the treatment of prisoners during that time, what cavalry Soldiers’ living conditions and food were like, Indian attacks and the community activities held in the Old Post Chapel.
At the Guardhouse, visitors met a deputy U.S. Marshal from Fort Smith, Arkansas. He said he typically comes to the territory to pick up prisoners from Fort Sill and other courts in the Indian Territory and takes them back to Fort Smith, to be tried in the courtroom of Judge Isaac Parker, known as The Hanging Judge.
Tulsa Area Pearl Harbor Survivors Remembered With Special Ceremony On 80th Anniversary
The “Last Man’s Club” in Tulsa on Tuesday honored Oklahoma Pearl Harbor survivors who have since passed away.
The club still meets regularly. Widows and children of survivors meet every month at Ollie’s restaurant.
While there are no more “last men” in Tulsa, there is a group of people fighting to keep their legacies alive.
The group meets for breakfast at Ollie’s on the third Saturday of every month, except December, when they have their ceremony.
Arkansas Veteran Remembers Pearl Harbor Attack 80 Years Later
KARK:
Eight decades after the events of Pearl Harbor, the images of that day are ingrained in America’s memory.
But for those who were there, it’s more than just pictures and film – but a moment they will never forget.
97-year-old William Chase remembers the events of December 7th, 1941, like it was yesterday. He recalls the morning shift, getting ready for the day at Hospital Point and hearing aircraft training exercises overhead.
“We had just got up and ate breakfast and cleaned the galley,” Chase remembers. “It was in the hospital.”
Chase was just 17 on that day and had gotten used to hearing planes practice maneuvers and dive bombs in the early morning hours. But on that day, he remembers the planes sounded different. And then they got the news.
“All at once, a nurse came in,” Chase said, “and told them that it was the real thing.”
Sweden’s First Female Leader Quit Last Week After A Few Hours. She Was Just Reelected
It looks like Sweden will soon have its first female prime minister after all. She’s the same one who resigned last week about seven hours after being tapped to lead the country.
Magdalena Andersson — a 54-year-old former finance minister who leads the Social Democratic Party — was reelected by a slim margin on Monday and will make history when she officially takes office on Tuesday.
Here’s what happened.
The title of the article is misleading. Sweden has been ruled multiple times by females–e.g. Queen Margaret I, Queen Christina, Queen Ulrika Eleonora, and the Regent Ingeborg. With the Kingdom of Sweden subordinate now to the EU, the first female prime minister certainly is not as impressive as the countless female monarchs who have ruled various lands throughout the last 2,000 or so years of Western Civilization.
Local Authors Pay Homage To Historical Fort Smith Buildings In Latest Book
Ever wonder where the large concrete arch in front of the Bricktown parking lot came from? Or the ornate arch in front of the ferris wheel at the west end entrance of Garrison Avenue? Answers are in the new photographic history book, “Stained Glass, Chalk Boards and Cash Registers of Fort Smith,” by Wayne Bledsoe, John Lehnen and Jim Kreuz.
The book pays homage to 129 vintage churches, schools and commercial buildings in Fort Smith, and features old and new photographs of the structures and a well-researched history of each. Also included are photos taken inside more than two dozen of the buildings, including 10 churches that are over a century old.
Battle Of Honey Springs Reenactment Scheduled
The weekend starts early with Education Day on Nov. 5. Beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday, students from schools across the state, as well as the general public, will have the opportunity to explore numerous education stations teaching topics related to the Civil War in Indian Territory and the battle itself. Living historians will demonstrate various military drills, cooking techniques and other everyday activities for soldiers. There also will be numerous sutlers selling 19th-century reproduction military equipment, clothing, books and souvenirs. Food vendors also will be on-site. Education Day is free to the public.
On Nov. 6, and 7, camps will open to the public at 10 a.m. The Battle of Honey Springs reenactment will take place at 1 p.m. each day. There also will be special presenters both days leading up to the battle reenactments. The cost for Saturday and Sunday will be $10 for adults. Children ages 12 and under are free.
The Battle of Honey Springs reenactment shows the largest of approximately 107 documented Civil War military engagements in present-day Oklahoma. The engagement took place on July 17, 1863, just two weeks after the famous Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Approximately 9,000 Union and Confederate troops, mostly American Indians and African Americans, were involved in the Battle of Honey Springs. Of those, approximately 200 total casualties were suffered. After a decisive Union victory, Confederates lost control of Indian Territory north of the Arkansas River. The Union victory also ensured federal control of Fort Gibson in Indian Territory and Fort Smith in Arkansas.
Fort Smith National Historic Site Set To Reopen
The Fort Smith National Historic Site in downtown Fort Smith will reopen the doors Nov. 1 to the visitor center and museum after more than 19 months with reduced occupancy.
Initially closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the visitor center and museum suffered water damage due to a frozen sprinkler head caused by the extended extreme cold temperatures in February.
Hours of operation will be daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The park grounds and trails will remain open from 30 minutes before sunrise to thirty minutes after sunset.
In Tree Rings And Radioactive Carbon, Signs Of The Vikings In North America
Vikings from Greenland — the first Europeans to arrive in the Americas — lived in a village in Canada’s Newfoundland exactly 1,000 years ago, according to research published Wednesday.
Scientists have known for many years that Vikings — a name given to the Norse by the English they raided — built a village at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around the turn of the millennium. But a study published in Nature is the first to pinpoint the date of the Norse occupation.
The explorers — up to 100 people, both women and men — felled trees to build the village and to repair their ships, and the new study fixes a date they were there by showing they cut down at least three trees in the year 1021 — at least 470 years before Christopher Columbus reached the Bahamas in 1492.
City of Fort Smith Loses Flag Display Ruling On ‘Historical Monument’ Provision
Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen filed suit June 3 in Sebastian County Circuit Court seeking a declaratory judgment that the city violated the Arkansas State Capitol and Historical Monument Protection Act when it removed the historical flag display and bronze markers from Riverfront Park in Fort Smith.
In October 2001, the city erected seven flags at Riverfront Park, 121 Riverfront Drive, representing the flags flown over Fort Smith since 1699. The flags included: The French Fleur-De-Lis flag; the Spanish Cross of Lorraine flag; the French tricolor flag; the U.S. flag with 15 stars; the U.S. flag with 20 stars; the U.S. flag with 24 stars; and the Confederate States of America flag depicting a circle of seven stars with red and white stripes. Brass markers identifying each flag were on the base of the flag poles. In April 2020, the city removed the flags due to age and condition, a letter from Colby Roe of Daily and Woods law firm stated.
“At some point after the flags’ removal, the brass markers were removed. The display has not existed since the removal,” the letter stated.
In May, McCutchen requested the city oblige the Arkansas State Capitol and Historical Monument Protection Act (Act 1003 of 2021) and replace the flags that flew at Riverfront Park from October 2001 to April 2020.
“This historical flag display is an important representation of Fort Smith history. We can’t allow government to erase or cancel our history like the City of Fort Smith is attempting to do. We must learn from our history,” McCutchen said. “We look forward to a ruling from the Arkansas History Commission which embraces the importance of our local and state history.”
Fort Smith city administration lost a round in their fight to erase our history, but their fight to erase our history is not over.
Never Forget
Congress Wants Your Help To Rename Military Bases And Ships
The William “Mac” Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 2021 resulted in the creation of the “Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.” More easily known as the “Naming Commission,” its job is to remove names, symbols, displays, monuments or paraphernalia commemorating the Confederacy and/or Confederates.
Erasing American history for the sake of Political Correctness is not going to make the military better or more efficient in any way.
Biden To Mark 20th Anniversary Of 9/11 At 3 Memorial Sites
Biden will visit ground zero in New York City, the Pentagon and the memorial outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 was forced down, the White House said Saturday. He will be accompanied by first lady Jill Biden.
See also: ‘F**K Joe Biden’ Chants Break Out At College Football Games Across The Country
Fort Smith Prepares For Juneteenth
On Saturday, Juneteenth celebrations will take place from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Harry E. Kelley River Park with music, dancing, comedy and family activities.
It’s important in Fort Smith because we’re a community, it’s important in Fort Smith to embrace our history, it’s important in Fort Smith to love ourselves and this is how we do that. We fellowship, we get to know each other, we learn our history, we become proud of our history and then we move forward from our history and this is the starting point,” said Jurena Storm, government affairs liaison to the office of Mayor George McGill.
For nearly two thousand years, Christmas existed as a solemn Catholic Mass to celebrate the birth of the Jewish Messiah. In the Modern Era, with state-sanctioning and commercialization, that holy day has become a celebration of lights on trees with an immortal, Nordic demigod commanding an army of elves, and magically traveling around the world with a squadron of flying reindeer. Alas, the process of bastardization has already begun with Juneteenth.
Juneteenth originated as a celebration of the end of slavery in Texas in June of 1865. President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation only proclaimed the emancipation of slaves in territory under Confederate rule, where he had no jurisdiction. Slavery continued in the United States throughout the war, and for many months afterward, only ending in December of 1865 with the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
Fort Smith sat on the river across from the Cherokee and Choctaw Nations, where the 13th Amendment did not exist, and where slavery continued until the Reconstruction Treaties went into effect in 1866. African-Americans whose families have lived in the River Valley for many generations are largely descended from people who continued in slavery for another year after US General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston Island on June 19, 1865. If we are talking about people from Fort Smith, or the city of Fort Smith, then Juneteenth certainly is not “our history.”
Not that I do not like to party. In fact, the solution is clearly to have more parties. Keep Juneteenth as Juneteenth, invent a separate Federal holiday marking the ratification of the 13th Amendment in December, and invent a special local holiday to celebrate the final emancipation of African-Americans in the nations which Fort Smith was originally created to oversee. Call it Freedmen Day, or Freedpersons Day if the historically-relevant terminology is now somehow offensive. It could also be called “Jultenth,” because the Choctaw and Chickasaw treaties went into effect on July 10, 1866, or “Augleventh” because the Cherokee and Creek ratified their treaties on August 11, 1866.
A Total Of 27 Graves Have Been Found So Far At 1921 Tulsa Massacre Search Site
CNN:
That is 15 new burials since the 12 that were uncovered in October, according to Oklahoma state archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck.
Stackelbeck expects that more graves will be uncovered as the excavation moves west, but says that some of these deaths may be associated with the 1918-1919 flu pandemic.
“So we have to remain cautious and not get too ahead of ourselves in terms of our interpretations. So we’re working with our multiple hypotheses about what can explain the presence of a mass grave,” she said, adding that the graves from the massacre is “absolutely still a possible scenario.”
City Administrator: Flags Of U.S. Military Branches To Fly At Fort Smith Riverfront Park
Fort Smith City Administrator Carl Geffken said the flags representing the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard will fly next to the United States flag at the park.
The action follows a May 19 request from Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen to oblige the Arkansas State Capitol and Historical Monument Protection Act (Senate Bill 553, now Act 1003 of 2021) and replace the flags that flew at Riverfront Park from October 2001 to April 2020. Those flags represented nations once in control of land now known as Arkansas: France, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America.
A May 25 letter to Geffken from Colby Roe of Daily & Woods law firm in Fort Smith states that after review of the Arkansas State Capitol and Historical Monument Protection Act there are “serious doubts as to whether the Riverfront Park flag display would be characterized as a ‘historical monument’ under the Act.”
Although city administration claims that the flags were taken down “due to age and condition,” it is largely understood that the flags were in fact removed due to the existence of slavery in Royal France, Spain, and the Confederacy. Displaying the flags of those governments is no longer Politically Correct, and so their flags must be replaced by the flags of institutions such as the US Navy, which once defended the international slave trade at sea, and the US Army, which once secured the rights of slaveowners here on the homefront.
Fort Smith Residents Want City To Restore Flag Display
KNWA:
Residents of Fort Smith are calling on the city to restore the Riverfront Park flag display.
The city established the display, which includes a Confederate flag, in October 2001, but last April, the flags were taken down due to damage and wear.
City officials say they’re reconsidering and re-examining the restoration of the flag display in light of recent racially historic events.
Fort Smith City Administrator Carl Geffken said “We’re taking all of that in, and we’re trying to think what this region, the city of Fort Smith reflects on, and what is important to it.”
Attorney Joey McCutchen tells us he plans to file a lawsuit against the city if the flag display is not promptly restored.