The Old Wire Road at Mudtown was used by the Butterfield Overland Mail Co. and by both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. In February 1862, Union troops ate food left behind at a Confederate camp and were sickened; some died, leading to charges that the abandoned supplies were poisoned. Three companies of the 1st Arkansas Cavalry (U.S.) fought a skirmish here on Dec. 9, 1862, suffering 1 hurt and 4 missing. Guerrillas attacked a Union wagon train here on Aug. 24, 1864, killing at least one man. The spring here provided water for Mudtown.