Wednesday, March 3: Oklahoma City OK to Fort Smith AR

Today started with a visit to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, which claims to be America's premier institution of Western history, art and culture. The museum was founded in 1955; it houses more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. It is home to the world's most extensive collection of American rodeo, photographs, barbed wire, saddlery and early rodeo trophies.

After spending most of the morning with cowboys and barbed wire, today was a pretty short drive to the Arkansas state line, to the city of Fort Smith. At the turn of the century, Fort Smith was a raucous border town perched on the edge of "Indian Territory," now known as Oklahoma. Today Fort Smith is known as the place "where the West was fun." On our way into town, we stopped at the Visitor Center for a tour of the Visitor Center - does that sound strange? Read on ...

The Fort Smith Visitor Center is located in a big house was originally named the River Front Hotel, but soon it was known simply as Miss Laura's Social Club - one of the most celebrated bordellos in the Southwest. Miss Laura Zeigler borrowed the money to open the brothel in 1903, and business was so good that she paid off the loan in 17 months. In 1911, she sold the property to one of her 'girls' for $47,000 and disappeared from the local scene - quite a businesswoman!