A dubious US route endpoint in Mena, AR

US 271 was among the routes included in AASHO's original 1926 log.  Its endpoints were listed as Ft. Smith and Mena, and its route was shown on some maps from that timeframe.  In late 1929, US 271 was changed such that it no longer entered Arkansas at all.  That would have left an orphaned segment between Poteau OK and Mena AR, but AASHO told both Arkansas and Oklahoma to use the US 371 designation for that segment.  However, there are several reasons to suspect that neither US 271 nor US 371 were ever actually signposted along the Arkansas section (between Mena and the Oklahoma line).

Ft. Smith and Mena are both in Arkansas, and they were (and still are) served by US 71.  The distance between those two towns is about 80 miles along a segment of US 71 which remains entirely within Arkansas.  

US 271 was also described as an 80-mile route in the AASHO log, although the actual distance would have been more like 86 miles.  And the majority of that route (about 63 miles) went through Oklahoma.

Especially during those early years, the US routes were expected to carry the main flow of traffic.  Community leaders wanted a US highway to run through their town, in order to reap the anticipated economic benefits.  In this specific case, Oklahoma would have wanted AASHO to route US 71 traffic through Poteau and Heavener.  Failing that, they would have wanted a different US route designation to pass through their state, one that travelers would view as an alternate route to US 71.  AASHO probably approved the US 271 designation as a concession to Oklahoma.  But Arkansas, on the other hand, would have wanted traffic to remain in their state, and would not have been motivated to inform travelers about an alternate route through Oklahoma.

Arkansas' version from the same year was their only map that referenced US 271, but note that it was not labeled anywhere east of the state line.  Also notice that it showed US 271 joining US 71 southwest of Mena.  If that had been the case, then US 271 would not have gone through Page.  Instead it would have gone south from Zoe to Big Cedar, then eastward (via today's OK 63 and AR 8).  So it appears that the two states had a disagreement not only about the designation of this highway, but also about its corridor.  All of this provides further cause for suspicion that Arkansas was not signposting US 271.

It should be noted that, during this same timeframe, both Oklahoma and Arkansas were petitioning AASHO for a new US route, which would eventually be approved and christened US 270.

Oklahoma apparently decided it could not benefit from the US 271 designation if Arkansas was not going to sign it.  So it appears Oklahoma petitioned to apply US 271 shields to a different corridor, heading southwest from Poteau and into Texas (a state that was much more willing to cooperate than Arkansas, considering that they extended US 271 all the way to the Gulf).  AASHO approved that change in late 1929, and they told both Oklahoma and Arkansas to apply the "US 371" designation to the corridor between Poteau and Mena.  ​Following is an excerpt from the letter AASHO sent to Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1929...