Joel Lightfoot was appointed an Indian Commissioner by President Andrew
Jackson in
1855. He brought many Cherokee Indians from the East through
Arkansas to Oklahoma
along the "Trail of Tears". He was offered a chiefship but declined. He was made a blood
brother of the Cherokees
because of his friendship and because of his government services.
He was
given a land grant in Phillips County and built his home there in 1857.
Colonel
Lightfoot served with distinction in the Confederate Army and died in
1877. The cabin was
given to Nancy and Hampton Roy by a member of the
Lightfoot Family, Helen Reddock.
Because of its remoteness, it was moved
in 1979 to Little Rock, Arkansas. This two-story "saddlebag" log structure is built of square yellow poplar
logs.
