Camp Ford Historic Park

Camp Ford was the largest prisoner of war (POW) camp run by the Confederacy west of the Mississippi. Opened in 1863, it held over 5000 Union prisoners; conditions were often appalling. Outside the camp, mob-rule often prevailed. Freed African Americans were often slaughtered and burned at the stake for having "Yankee sympathies." The site today has interpretive trails, a reconstructed POW cabin and a small museum.