• August 28, 2015
• About the Heritage Trail Partners

Accomplishments

Since our founding in the early 2000s, Heritage Trail Partners has worked to preserve and promote historic routes in Northwest Arkansas. Many of our projects involved partnerships with local, state, and national organizations. Our accomplishments include:

Research, design, and installation of interpretive markers

• Trail of Tears
  • Evansville (western Washington County)
• Butterfield Overland Mail
  • Lake Fayetteville Park
  • Pea Ridge National Military Park
• Civil War
  • Cane Hill (Washington County)
  • Head’s Ford (Washington County, east of Springdale)

Public programs and educational activities

“Cherokee Footsteps in Northwest Arkansas” symposium (follow the links to download a podcast of each session from the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History’s iTunes U site)

• The Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Perspective by Troy Wayne Poteete
• The Ridge Family and Removal by Dr. Alice Taylor Colbert
• Cherokee Voices, Cherokee Sounds by Dennis Sixkiller
• Current Trail of Tears Research by Dr. Daniel Littlefield

“History Right Under Your Feet: Traveling the Heritage Trail in Northwest Arkansas” (follow the links to download a podcast of each session from the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History’s iTunes U site)

• Trail of Tears by John McLarty
• Butterfield Overland Mail Route by Kirby Sanders
• Civil War by Alan Thompson

“Hardships on the Home Front: Civilians and Soldiers in the Civil War Ozarks” living history event

Butterfield Overland Mail trail ride

Support of University of Arkansas’s Indigenous Peoples Day event

Professional development workshop for educators

Publication of Driving Guide to Butterfield Overland Mail Route (Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma)

Publication and free distribution of Butterfield Overland Mail Route driving map through Benton and Washington counties

Installation of Heritage Trail signage along designated roads in Benton, Crawford, and Washington counties

Some of our project partners

• Arkansas Chapter, Trail of Tears Association
• Arkansas Historic Preservation Program
• Benton County
• Benton County Historic Preservation Commission
• Benton County Historical Society
• Bentonville USA
• City of Gentry
• City of Siloam Springs
• Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission
• Pea Ridge National Military Park
• Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park
• Rogers Historical Museum
• Sells Agency, Little Rock and Fayetteville Arkansas offices
• Sen. John Boozman
• Shiloh Museum of Ozark History
• Trail of Tears Association
• Visit Rogers
• Washington County
• Washington County Historical Society

 Ways you can help

• Become a member
• Adopt an interpretive panel
• Adopt a Heritage Trail roadway sign

Contact us if you’d like to become involved!