OPPORTUNITIES

Almost 50 years later from those hot summer play days in Cavanaugh, I finally had the opportunity to visit the Cavanaugh Mound. The opportunity lended itself through an email from a friend asking for volunteers to help clean up the site which is now in disrepair. The U of A Fort Smith Research Station, Arkansas Archaeological Survey is spear-heading the movement to restore/preserve the area and to date the site from its beginning. There were plenty of jobs for everyone, from cutting down trees with chainsaws, snipping old barb wire, and cutting through overgrown brush! While spending this past Saturday morning clearing out an area of overgrowth I felt like I had to be having more fun than anyone in Fort Smith. I had always been so curious about this mysterious mound and now here I was! I can't wait to see what mysteries continue to unfold as the archaeological surveyors continue their work.

Cavanaugh Mound

Warm, muggy evenings in the Cavanaugh area of Fort Smith created the perfect setting for stirring up the imagination of a group of little girls. The Cavanaugh Mound area was about a mile from our neighborhood and we use to imagine we could hear beating drums and the chants of Indians while we played. We would listen so carefully, and then suddenly one of us would start screaming, which would lead to the rest of us screaming and imagining the sounds were nearing our street. Of course, there were never Indians there in our life time. We were just a group of little girls who had watched one too many John Wayne movies! As an adult, I still stare in awe of the mounds when we pass by, which have now deteriorated in Cavanaugh. I was happy to read the news today that the area is being taken over by an archaeological company to study the preservation of the site.