Spring Travel Part Fifteen: The Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma

One of the most beautiful regions in the South can be found in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.

While many people are familiar with the Ozarks, located a bit to the north, fewer know about the spectacular Ouachitas (pronounced Wah-she-Tahs).

Rich in history and natural beauty, the Ouachitas are the tallest mountains between the Great Smokies and the Rockies. They stretch from the area of Hot Springs, Arkansas west for more than 100 miles across the border into eastern Oklahoma. Filled with history, legends and mysteries, they are among the most intriguing of America's mountain ranges.

To learn more about the Ouachita Mountains, Hot Springs, the Talimena Drive, Queen Wilhelmina State Park, the Ghost Story of Rich Mountain and even an 1897 "UFO Report," please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ouachita1.

Spring Travel Part Four: Historic Blakeley State Park

One of the least known major battles of the Civil War took place in the sandy pine woods of South Alabama (or as they like to say around Mobile, "LA" or "Lower Alabama").

The Battle of Blakeley, sometimes called the Battle of Fort Blakely, was fought in April of 1865 and lasted for several days.

Blakeley had once been one of the most populous towns in Alabama and had vied with Mobile in importance during the state's early history, but yellow fever epidemics had virtually destroyed the town by the time of the Civil War. The site was of strategic importance, however, and the Confederates fortified it with artillery batteries, earthwork forts, rifle pits and miles of breastworks.

Although a siege had been underway for several days, the final assault began on the evening of April 8, 1865. The next day, Union troops stormed Redoubt #4 and broke through the Confederate lines in a bloody battle that left 216 men dead and 955 wounded.

The battlefield today is a fascinating and pristine state park that preserves an impressive network of breastworks, fortifications and battery sites, including the Union attack trenches and batteries. In addition, Historic Blakeley State Park protects the site of the original town of Blakeley, the old town cemetery, Native American sites and more. To learn more about this fascinating place that I consider one of the finest destinations of its type in the South, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/blakely1.

Historic Blakeley State Park Pages now online!

Our new section on Alabama's Historic Blakeley State Park is now online.

Located off State Highway 225 just north of Spanish Fort, Alabama (across Mobile Bay from Mobile), this park preserves the site of the historic ghost town of Blakeley and the 1865 Battle of Blakeley, Alabama.

Once a thriving river town that rivaled nearby Mobile, the town of Blakeley was once the county seat of Baldwin County, Alabama. The beautiful Mobile-Tensaw Delta that gave the town its life, however, also brought about its end. Mosquito-carried diseases including yellow fever and malaria swept the town in epidemics, killing scores of residents and driving others from the lowlands.

By the time of the Civil War, the town was virtually abandoned. Due to its strategic location, however, the Confederates erected massive fortifications here to help protect Mobile from Union attack. These works were attacked and carried by Union troops on April 9, 1865, in one of the final battles of the war. The Battle of Blakeley was one of the largest Civil War battles fought in Alabama and helped assure the fall of the Confederate citadel of Mobile.

To learn more about this battle and the beautiful state park that preserves its site, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory and scroll down the page to the Index section. You will find the link under the "Alabama" heading.