When Gen. Frederick Steele's Union army invaded southwest Arkansas in April 1864, threatening the Confederate state capital at Washington, Gov. Harris Flanagin moved the state archives to Rondo, where they were deposited in James Abraham's store. Editor John Eakin moved the press and type for the Washington Telegraph to Rondo for safekeeping during the Union invasion. Some of the Confederate soldiers detailed to guard the government records died and were buried in the Rondo cemetery before the records were returned to Washington.