The Western District--A One Act Play

Experience The Western District at the Fort Smith Museum of History

The River Valley Film Society and the Fort Smith Museum of History invite the community to experience THE WESTERN DISTRICT, a compelling one-act historical play written and produced by Dr. Brandon Chase Goldsmith.

Bringing to life a little-known chapter of Fort Smith history, THE WESTERN DISTRICT explores the dramatic events surrounding the relocation of the Western District Court of Arkansas from Van Buren to Fort Smith on May 8, 1871.

The court was moved into a notorious saloon known as Fort Smith’s “Hole in the Wall,” the site occupied today by 21 West End. In just fourteen months and twenty days, it became the most corrupt courthouse in the United States.

Congressional investigations later uncovered shocking illegal schemes, including criminal charges dropped for cash, a U.S. Marshal founding a National Bank to conceal the equivalent of $1 million, the…