Fayetteville Haunts

07/20/2025

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07/20/2025

07/19/2025

The following story adds a bit more flesh to “The Shannon-Fisher Feud” chapter of my book, Murder in the County. Fascinating in its post-war 1869 violence, the extensive chapter has been one of my favorites since I started researching these murders back in 2016. Glad I stumbled across this extra bit.

"In the brutal and lawless corridor known as the Nueces Strip, John King Fisher carved a reputation equal parts ruthless and respectable. Born in 1853, Fisher first lived by the gun as a cattle rustler and border raider. But his charisma, command, and natural sense of frontier justice allowed him to reinvent himself as a respected lawman in Uvalde County by the early 1880s. He was fearless, elegant in dress, and deadly accurate with a pistol. His ranch sign famously read: *“This is King Fisher’s road. Take the other.”* Yet behind that cold-eyed warning stood a man with a family, and at the heart of that family was Sarah Elizabeth “Sallie” Vivian Fisher.

"Sallie married John in 1876, when she was just 19 and he was on the edge of outlaw legend. Together they had four children—three daughters who lived to adulthood and a son who died as an infant. Their life was a mixture of hard-earned comfort and constant danger. Sallie knew her husband’s world well: the friends who could turn enemies, the respect earned at gunpoint, and the long, tense silences when he was out on the trail. When John was ambushed and gunned down in San Antonio in 1884, Sallie’s world shattered—but she didn't. She raised their daughters alone and quietly lived on for more than 60 years after his violent death.

"Sallie never remarried. Instead, she carried the weight of Fisher’s legend with quiet dignity, watching Texas change around her as the Old West faded into memory. She passed away in 1946 at the age of 89, outliving gunfights, sheriffs, railroads, and revolutions. If John King Fisher was the flash of frontier fire, Sallie was the steady flame that followed—unseen by history’s headlines, but no less central to the story."

Murder in the County: https://www.amazon.com/dp/154427663X

07/18/2025

On this day in Fayetteville History - July 18, 1874 - 151 Years Ago The first issue of the Fayetteville News was published. Samuel Bard was the publisher.

07/17/2025

✈️ 👩‍✈️ Bentonville's aviation center honors Arkansas aviator Louise Thaden.
https://arkansaslivingmagazine.com/story/winged-wonder/

07/17/2025

07/16/2025

07/16/2025

Walking the streets near Woolworth's in Fayetteville, 1974.

Photo courtesy of photographer Art Meripol / Fayetteville Flyer

07/16/2025

Uhhhhh… Say what, again???
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/annabelle-doll-s-real-life-handler-dies-suddenly-at-54-during-paranormal-tour/ar-AA1II2Qg

Annabelle doll’s real-life handler dies suddenly at 54 during paranormal tour - Dan Rivera death was confirmed in a statement shared by NESPR on Facebook and no cause of death has been released