The old town of Washington always facinates me also. So much history. I have never made this statement publicly but Arkansas up to about the 1960's never valued their past history much. It's been written that you can find more on Arkansas history in other states than you can in Arkansas. My mother married an Arkansan and that's how I got here at an early age. Some Arkansas people would prefer not to bother with preserving the past but the state is coming around. I have found places where civil war events (small skirmishes etc.) have occurred that no one knows about or at least a very few. My major interest is the events surrounding the Battle of Little Rock probably because I live close by. I'm about 4 miles northwest of Reed's Bridge. I used to lease (for metal detecting-exploring) Jones Island downriver from Little Rock. It is a large island and I had it all by myself and a few hundred head of cattle. This was not an island during the civil war but part of Little Rock. It is where the river made a horse shoe bend and the island was where the Union crossed over. I have read soldiers diaries of the landscape back then and actually found the tree line (no trees now) where the Rebs had their two or three small cannons set up. Found all kinds of items on the island. But all you will find is a sign marker about a 1/4 of a mile away and that's it. The interest in areas such as that have improved around Scott and Reed's Bridge but we have a long way to go. By the way, they say you can still see the rifle pits on the west side of Hwy. 19 north out of Prescott. The pits are on the Hale Farm and restricted. I've never been able to spot them. The pits were on the west side of the prairie defending the route to Washington. Sure wouldn't mind testing the ole metal detector in that area!