U.S. Marshals Museum

The U.S. Marshals Service is the nation's oldest federal law enforcement agency, created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 under President George Washington. A Smithsonian exhibit about it was housed in Laramie, Wyoming, from 1991 until 2002, and when that museum closed the service went looking for a new home. Fort Smith made its case on its western heritage, Judge Isaac Parker's court, marshals such as Bass Reeves, the nearby former Indian Territory and the many descendants of marshals in the area. The service announced the choice on January 4, 2007.

The Westphal family gave the riverfront land. The winning design is a museum shaped like a marshal's badge, with the groundbreaking held on September 24, 2014. Site preparation, easements along the river and design changes to save money slowed the work, and the museum did not open until July 1, 2023. Its galleries cover the history and roles of the service, a campfire of marshals' stories, a frontier town with a saloon and a marshal's office, and modern marshals' technology. Bass Reeves, born enslaved in Crawford County in 1838 and commissioned a deputy marshal in 1875, is among the first Black federal lawmen west of the Mississippi River, and his story is part of the frontier gallery. The Sicard Hall of Honor profiles marshals and deputies who died in service.

Outside stands the Lighthorseman, a thirteen-foot bronze given by the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma to honor the Native lawmen who worked with the marshals in Indian Territory. The museum is at 789 Riverfront Drive.