With dramatic views of the river valley, Mount Nebo State Park overlooks the Arkansas River where thousands of Native Americans passed during the forced removal from their native lands. Below, a major land route and the water route intersected, making this one of only two locations along the Trail of Tears where all five of the civilized tribes passed. Indians might have been seen on foot with their children and belongings on their backs, or carried by boat up the Arkansas River. Dardanelle Rock, easily seen from the river in Dardanelle, and lofty Mount Nebo itself were most likely important landmarks as these people made their way west. Entire tribes from as far away as Georgia and Florida were transported up the Arkansas River to Fort Smith by steamboats pulling flat-bottomed boats or keelboats. They were then transferred to wagons, or walked the remainder of the trip into Indian Territory. Each night, as they traveled, these Native Americans made camp along the river bank, and Army officers and soldiers doled out rations as they were made available. From this vantage point, light and smoke from campfires could be seen as night after night new groups of removed people camped in the river valley on their way west.