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1978 Map of Fort Smith

Name: 1978 Topographic Map of Fort Smith
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1979
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1979

About this map

Arkansas River navigation and the rugged ridges of the Ouachita foothills define this late 1970s landscape across the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. The urban core of Fort Smith and Van Buren sits at the convergence of the Poteau River and the main river channel, surrounded by industrial infrastructure including massive strip mines to the west and a sprawling Gas Field to the south. Transport corridors like Interstate 40 and several major railroads, including the Kansas City Southern and Missouri Pacific, highlight the region's role as a shipping hub.

Large-scale land management is evident in the expansive Fort Chaffee Military Reservation and the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge on the Robert S Kerr Reservoir. The topography is dominated by east-west formations such as Backbone Mountain and the Sans Bois Mountains, while smaller settlements like Sallisaw, Poteau, and Greenwood serve as local centers for the surrounding timber and mining country.