daily hazard, the Skonk Works, was almost as lethal. Scores have been done in by the fumes of the concentrated "skonk" oil which is brewed and barreled at the factory by its owner and "inside man", Big Barnsmell; and his cousin, "outside man" Barney Barnsmell (see also Skunk Works). Mail was very slow, with the ancient, white-bearded postmaster and his creaky jackass mount (Young Eddie McSkonk and U.S. Mule) often feeling too stressed to deliver the cobweb-covered sacks of timeworn letters marked "Rush" at the Dogpatch Express post office. Dogpatch's various feature attractions also included Kissin' Rock (handy to Suicide Cliff), the Jubilation T. Cornpone memorial statue, and Dogpatch Airlines, with decrepit World War I aviator Cap'n Eddie Ricketyback, proprietor (a pun on Eddie Rickenbacker). Theme park In 1967, Al Capp licensed and had an interest in an $35 million theme park called Dogpatch USA in Marble Falls near Harrison, Arkansas, based on the comic strip's setting and featuring a trout farm, buggy and horseback rides, entertainment by characters from the Li’l Abner comic strip, and eventually amusement rides. Opening in 1968, the park had 300,000 visitors in its first year. The park closed in 1993 due to mismanagement and financial debt. It had been scheduled to reopen as Heritage USA Ozarks Resort in 2020, but in 2020 it was sold to Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris for $1.12 million, to become "a nature experience for future generations to enjoy." Morris is reportedly interested in “restoration of the large natural spring and bringing back to life the renowned trout hatchery and many future fishing opportunities." Other uses U.S. Army and Marine Corps units in Vietnam during the Vietnam War often called their housing compounds "Dogpatches", due to the primitive conditions. The term was used by American chemical engineers such as William J. Wilcox, Jr. and Warren Fuchs, during World War II who were working on the Manhattan Project; the engineers used the term from the comic strip to describe their first Rochester dormitories, with dark and dismal furniture and used beds from an old YMCA, and kept using the term when they transferred to Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 47th Fighter Squadron is known as the DogPatchers, and their A-10C aircraft are named after the characters from Li'l Abner. Each airplane has artwork depicting these characters located on the inside of the boarding ladder door. Dogpatch is also the name of