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In 1832, Sylvanus Blackburn left his wife Catherine and their home in Tennessee looking for their future. What he found was a lush valley along the War Eagle River in Northwest Arkansas. He selected a 160-acre tract in a curve of War Eagle Creek, spent his first winter at War Eagle clearing the land and chopping wood for their home, then returned to Tennessee to get his wife. After hearing about the wonderful land in Arkansas, his parents and three brothers and three sisters chose to return with them. They camped out in tents until 1833, until they completed a two-story log house, which still ...

Recently, Joe Spivey, one of the trustees of Northwest Arkansas Community College, invited me to be a guest at the Noon Rotary Club meeting. The program was about a black slave who eventually became a prominent figure in the development of Rogers and Northwest Arkansas. I had never heard of this man and so was very interested in the story.