The "Real" Rooster Cogburn?! - Fort Smith, Arkansas

The Real Rooster Cogburn?

With the coming release of the Hollywood remake of the classic movie "True Grit," one of the most beloved Western figures of all time is seeing a bit of a rebirth as well - Rooster Cogburn.

John Wayne won the only Academy Award of his career for playing the rough and tumble Deputy U.S. Marshal and now Jeff Bridges will take his turn at bringing the character from the pages of the 1968 novel "True Grit" by Arkansas writer Charles Portis. For the uninitiated, the book (and movies) tell the story of a young girl's quest to bring the man who murdered her father to justice in the court of Fort Smith's famed "Hanging Judge," Isaac C. Parker. She goes to Fort Smith, on the western border of Arkansas, from nearby Yell County and hires a man with "grit" - Deputy U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. The two set out into the Indian Nations of what is now Oklahoma in search of the murderer.

Although Portis is a very reclusive man, he has been quoted in the past as saying that the character of Rooster Cogburn was actually created as a compilation of the men who served as Deputy Marshals for the U.S. Court for the Western District of Arkansas. And indeed, some of the events in the story he told were loose adaptations of real events involving several of these famed western lawmen.

There is strong circumstantial evidence - and perhaps a bit more than that - however, that the actual character of Rooster Cogburn was based on a real-life one-eyed Deputy U.S. Marshal from Fort Smith. Descendants of Cal Whitson, a man who served as a frontier lawman during the late 1800s, believe that their ancestor was the "real" Rooster Cogburn.

Whitson, like Cogburn, was a former Civil War soldier who served as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in Fort Smith during the days of the "Hanging Judge." He was the only such lawman in the history of Parker's court known to have lost an eye (his left, which he covered by keeping the brim of his hat intentionally pulled down on that side). And there is more.


To learn the story of Cal Whitson, the "real" Rooster Cogburn, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/roostercogburn.

Horse Thief Spring - Ouachita Mountains, Oklahoma

If you've ever seen the John Wayne movies "True Grit" or "Rooster Cogburn," then you know a little about the stories of the outlaws that once roamed the mountains of Oklahoma and the determined Deputy Marshals who risked their lives to bring them to justice in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Stories like "True Grit" and Clint Eastwood's later film "Hang 'Em High" were based on real events that took place along the Arkansas-Oklahoma border in the decades after the Civil War. Believing that the Indian Nations of what is now Oklahoma would provide them with safety, outlaws flooded to the region.

Their presence terrified the peaceful inhabitants of the Nations and surrounding areas and the U.S. Government launched an aggressive campaign to round up these outlaws and bring them to justice. Isaac Parker was appointed as the Federal Judge for the Western District of Arkansas, which held jurisdiction over the region, and before his career was over would hang more murders, rapists and robbers than any Federal Judge in American history. He would also suffer the loss of dozens of deputy marshals in the line of duty.

As Parker's deputies penetrated deeper and deeper into the outlaw hideouts, the outlaws found new locations deeper and deeper in the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains. Traces of their presence can still be found there today at places like Robbers Cave and Horse Thief Spring.

Located along the beautiful Talimena Scenic Drive that winds its way along the tops of the Ouachita Mountains, Horse Thief Spring is a site rich in history and tradition. A small spring, now surrounded by a stone enclosure erected during the Great Depression, bubbles from the side of the mountain.

According to legend, this spring was used as a watering place by Old West outlaws who hid out in the vicinity. The site is relatively close to the Old Military or Fort Towson Road, which led from Fort Smith south to Fort Towson near the Texas border. This road was a major route for travelers in the 19th century and was frequented by outlaws.

From the end of the Civil War for about 25 years, outlaws used places like Horse Thief Spring before the diligent deputies and Indian police finally brought their presence to an end. To learn more about this unique historic site, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/horsethiefspring.