The
Arkansas Traveler story is connected to
Colonel Sandford C. Faulkner, who was very active in Arkansas politics. He was also involved in banking and farming during the 19th century. As oral history has relayed it, Faulkner had gotten lost in the
Ozarks during one of his many political campaigns. Looking for a place to stay overnight, he wandered by a small, log cabin where he was given lodging and hospitality. Faulkner, who was known for retelling the event, explained that the settler was at first bad tempered and uncommunicative but became more welcoming when Faulkner proved able to complete playing the tune that the settler had been playing on the
fiddle. Generally when Faulkner told the story, only he and the settler participated in the conversation. Faulkner's story of the "Arkansas Traveler" rapidly became part of the state's folklore, leading to the creation of a famous painting by
Edward Payson Washbourne which depicts the event. Later, in 1870,
Currier and Ives created a lithograph of the famous painting. Faulkner was also known to perform the tune often on the fiddle, which he would play as part of his narrative. ==History==