Camp Stephens, named for Alexander H. Stephens, vice-president of the Confederacy, covered land on Little Sugar and Brush Creeks extending eastward three miles from their confluence at this point. Brig. Gen. Nicholas Bart Pearce established it in July, 1861, when he moved troops from Camp Walker to train the Third Louisiana. They moved to Cassville, Missouri, on July 31 and fought in the battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10. Soon after the battle of Pea Ridge, Gen. Samuel R. Curtis moved to this camp “to get away from the stench of the battlefield”.