FORT SMITH, Ark. – On Sunday, Nov. 5, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., the True Grit Trail will officially launch its expansion into Oklahoma at the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith.
The True Grit Trail organization originated in 2019 as a tourism project following the Arkansas route of Charles Portis’ 1968 novel, True Grit. The True Grit Trail between Dardanelle, Ark. and Fort Smith is 75.6 miles of historical attractions, sites and scenery found throughout the Arkansas River Valley.
Work began on The True Grit Trail expan-sion into Oklahoma earlier this year, traversing the nearly 185 miles between Sallisaw, OK, and Talihina with a zigzag route that touches many Oklahoma communities along the way, including Quinton, Krebs, McAlester, Wilburton, Robbers Cave State Park and more.
The stated mission of the organization is: “… to create partnerships among local businesses and communities to bring tourists to the Arkansas River Valley and Southeastern Oklahoma by leveraging the name recognition provided by (the late) author Charles Portis when he set his novel True Grit in those locations.”
For more information call 773-844-1804 in Indianola or 479699-5246 in Dardanelle, Ark., or the U.S. Marshals Museum at 479-242-1789.
