Arkansas Traveler (honorary title)

File:Arkansas Traveler Certificate for SSgt Brandon K. Laflin, February 17th, 2017.jpg

The Arkansas Traveler is an honorary title bestowed on notable individuals who, through their actions, serve as goodwill ambassadors for the US state of Arkansas. A certificate is signed by the governor, secretary of state and the recipient's sponsor, and given to the honoree during a ceremony attended by the signers.{{cite web |first = Sonny |last = Rhodes |date = July 2016 |url = http://aymag.com/historical-gems-history-arkansas-traveler/ |title = Historical Gems: History of the Arkansas Traveler |work = About You }}{{cite web |first1 = Bill |last1 = McCuen |first2 = Bill |last2= Clinton |date = June 30, 1990 |url = http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/media-detail.aspx?mediaID=10425 |title = Arkansas Traveler Award Rresented to Carolina Cotton |location = Little Rock |publisher = State of Arkansas |access-date = April 17, 2017 |via = Encyclopedia of Arkansas }}

Background

File:The Arkansas Traveler. Scene in the Back Woods of Arkansas. Currier and Ives, 1870.jpg

The Arkansas Traveler story is connected to Colonel Sandford C. Faulkner, who was very active in Arkansas politics. He was also involved in banking and farming during the 19th century. As oral history has relayed it, Faulkner had gotten lost in the Ozarks during one of his many political campaigns. Looking for a place to stay overnight, he wandered by a small, log cabin where he was given lodging and hospitality. Faulkner, who was known for retelling the event, explained that the settler was at first bad tempered and uncommunicative but became more welcoming when Faulkner proved able to complete playing the tune that the settler had been playing on the fiddle.{{cite journal |last = Hudgins |first = Mary D. |title= Arkansas Traveler: A Multi-Parented Wayfarer |journal = Arkansas Historical Quarterly |volume = 30 |date = Summer 1971 |issue = 2 |pages = 145–160|doi = 10.2307/40038074 |jstor = 40038074 }} Generally when Faulkner told the story, only he and the settler participated in the conversation.

Faulkner's story of the "Arkansas Traveler" rapidly became part of the state's folklore, leading to the creation of a famous painting by Edward Payson Washbourne which depicts the event.{{cite encyclopedia |first = Swannee |last = Bennett |date = June 8, 2016 |url = http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=504 |title = Edward Payson Washbourne (1831–1860) |encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Arkansas |publisher = Central Arkansas Library System |access-date = April 17, 2017 }}{{cite journal |last = Lankford |first = George |title = The Arkansas Traveller: The Making of an Icon |journal = Mid-America Folklore |volume = 10 |year = 1982 |pages = 16–23 }} Later, in 1870, Currier and Ives created a lithograph of the famous painting.{{cite journal |last = Mercer |first = H. C. |title = On the Track of the Arkansas Traveller |journal = Century Magazine |volume = 5 |date = March 1896 |pages = 707–712 }}{{cite journal |last = Brown |first = Sarah |title = The Arkansas Traveller: Southwest Humor on Canvas |journal = Arkansas Historical Quarterly |volume = 46 |date = Winter 1987 |pages = 348–375 |doi = 10.2307/40025957 |jstor = 40025957 }} Faulkner was also known to perform the tune often on the fiddle, which he would play as part of his narrative.{{cite book |last = Schlosser |first = S.E. |chapter = Chapter 9. The Log Cabin: Montgomery County, Arkansas |title = Spooky South |publisher = Globe Pequot |edition = 1st |location = Guilford, CT |year = 2004 }}

History

The award was approved in a resolution by the Arkansas Legislature. The award was created in early 1941 with the first certificate granted May 20, 1941, to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.{{cite encyclopedia |first = William B. |last = Worthen |date = February 3, 2016 |url = http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=505 |title = Arkansas Traveler |encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Arkansas |publisher = Central Arkansas Library System |access-date = April 17, 2017 }}{{cite book |last = Masterson |first = James R. |title = Arkansas Folklore. |location = Little Rock |publisher = Rose Publishing |year = 1974 }} While Governor of the state, Bill Clinton conferred the title upon numerous individuals.