SPRINGDALE -- The Butterfield National Historic Trail Association is holding a meeting regarding the organization of national and state chapters.
The meeting will be at 2 p.m. May 20 in the Shiloh Meeting Hall at 121 Huntsville Ave., the corner of Huntsville Avenue and Main Street.
U.S. National Park Service officials will talk about expectations from national historic trail associations and state chapters.
Marilyn Heifner, president of the association, will speak regarding the history and next steps.
President Joe Biden signed a law in December designating the entire 3,292-mile route as the Butterfield Overland National Historic Trail. There are two portions in Arkansas.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Rogers, sponsored the legislation, which he has shepherded through Congress in stages since he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2001.
The route, operated by the Butterfield Overland Mail Co., was known as the Ox-Bow Route and was used to transport mail and passengers between St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn., westward through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, to the western terminus of San Francisco.
The route, operated from 1858-61 and is also known as the Butterfield Stage, was the longest stagecoach route in history.
Planners in Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley in December approved portions of the route for inclusion in the Butterfield Trail Experience, a bicycle touring route paralleling the Butterfield Stage Route between Jefferson City, Mo., and Fort Smith, about 500 miles in total when complete.
Missouri has a 250-mile bike route following the trail between Jefferson City and Springfield and is working on the portion south of Springfield to the Arkansas line.
The routes from St. Louis and Memphis merged in Fort Smith, and the Butterfield Overland Express stagecoaches traveled through much of Arkansas. Stagecoaches made stops between Memphis and Fort Smith in St. Francis, Prairie, Lonoke, Faulkner, Conway, Pope, Yell, Logan and Franklin counties. The northwestern route out of Missouri included stops in Benton, Washington and Crawford counties before crossing the Arkansas River and entering Sebastian County at Fort Smith.
A Zoom link can be provided for those unable to attend. Contact Elizabeth Bowen for more information at: [email protected].