Here's some information on the
Vaught Cemetery that I thought you might be interested in:
VAUGHT CEMETERY, taken from THE
ARKANSAS HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY Autumn, 1955.
The site of the
Vaught Cemetery, which is about five miles northeast of Mountainburg in the Big Frog Valley, will be covered with water when the dam above Lake
Fort Smith is completed and its reservoir fills. This dam was authorized by the city of
Fort Smith to create an additional water supply for the city. According to the contract for building the dam, it will be completed in early 1956.
This century-old cemetery has been used as their burial ground as long as the present generation can remember. A report from
BAA. McConnell who had the contract for removing the graves, states that "488 graves were moved from the original
Vaught Cemetery and 18 graves from an old cemetery on East - making 506 graves in the new
Vaught Cemetery." The site of the new
Vaught Cemetery is three and a half miles south of the old location. It is on
Highway 71 and near the
Shepherd Springs road. This new cemetery was dedicated on Sunday, Aug. 28, 1955.
Many soldiers, one dating back to the War of 1812, are buried in this cemetery. It was started on land once owned by Samuel
Caswell Vaught. He settled near Fayetteville in 1842 but removed to
Crawford County in 1846 and established his home on the road between Mountainburg (the
Narrows, then) and what is now known as
Winfrey. About 1850
Caswell Vaught buried an old Cherokee Indian in one corner of his land down by the Big Frog
Creek. This Indian had attached himself to the family and befriended them during their first days in the valley. Later
Caswell gave the plot to the community to use as a burial ground.
Joy Russell