Zachary Taylor & Old Fort Smith

Born in Virginia in 1784, Zachary Taylor was raised in Kentucky on a plantation. He was a career soldier in the Army and was also a cotton planter with holdings in Mississippi and Louisiana (Bauer 1985:2; Dyer 1946:5; Fry 1848:14; Hamilton 1941:21).

He was first commissioned in 1808 as a first lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry Regiment and was one of the prominent figures in the war of 1812--sucessfully defending Fort Harrison from a Shawnee attack (Bauer 1985:13-28; Dyer 1946:24-26; Fry 1848:19-29; Hamilton 1941:40-44). After a brief break from the military following the War of 1812, Taylor rejoined the army as a major and was stationed at a variety of locations long the frontier (Bauer 1985:29; Fry 1848:30).

In 1841, Taylor became the commander of the Second Department, Western Division at Fort Smith, Arkansas (Bauer 1985:97; Dyer 1946:132-148; Fry 1848:68; Hamilton 1941:142-155). By 1844, however, he had moved on and had become the commander at Fort Jessup in Louisiana (Bauer 1985:103; Dyer 1946:147-148).

During his three-year tenure at Fort Smith, local oral history and several of the few published histories of the city claim that Taylor made his home in the "weather-boarded log house" that was once attached to our chimney; this was then adjacent to Camp Belknap, a temporary cantonment area established to house the troops while construction continued on Fort Smith (Faulk and Jones 1983:28-29; Mapes 1965:13-15; Patton 1992:72, 74, 219).

Of course, Fort Smith was but a brief stop on his trek. From here, Zachary Taylor went on to become a hero of the war with Mexico and is credited with major victories at Monterey and Buena Vista (Bauer 1985:166-214; Dyer 1946:184-206, 226-254; Fry 1848:215-321). In total he spent almost a quarter of a century as a soldier on the frontiers of the ever-expanding United States.

The Mexican-American War transformed Taylor from a minor military figure into a presidential contender and eventually took him, although briefly, to the White House.

Taylor served a president only from March 5, 1849 until July 9, 1850 (Bauer 1985:314-327; Dyer 1946:397-410). After about sixteen months in office--and shortly after participating in the groundbreaking ceremonies at the Washington Monument on July 4, 1850--Taylor fell ill. Within five days he was dead. The cause of death was listed as gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines).

Taylor's story can be seen as a metaphor for nineteenth-century America. His climb through the military ranks during a series of expansionist wars meant to fulfill our manifest destiny and his subsequent election to the highest office in the land tell a story of a very active, turbulent, expanding America with the militarism and sectional tension that eventually would lead to the Civil War.

Back in Fort Smith, however, Taylor's story is intersected by another nineteenth-century story--the story of the Sisters of Mercy.

On to The Sisters of Mercy on the Arkansas Frontier

Back to Introduction

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