conviction. The Hallies Guards were organized in Little Rock in 1880. The Hot Springs Guards were organized in Hot Springs, Garland County, in 1884. The unit participated in drill competitions with the Quapaw Guard in the summer 1884. The McCarthy Light Guards were organized in Little Rock in 1887, named for John H. McCarthy, the local business man who paid for their uniforms. The company competed in several drill competitions, including the Interstate Competitive Drill at Galveston, Texas, where the placed third, at Atlanta in 1889 where they were second, in Omaha in 1891 where again were second, and finally at Nashville, Tennessee, where they won first place. The company was invited to attend the Chicago Worlds Far in 1893, and took fourth prize at the Interstate Competitive Drill in its home town of Little Rock in 1894. In 1894 the unit was mobilized to help control with a railroad worker's strike. The all black Neel Guards were organized in Jefferson County in 1881. A Captain Sam Helzheim was ordered to muster African American volunteers into this company. When Helzheim refused to enroll black men, Governor Churchill had Helzeim court martialed. He was convicted and sentenced to be suspended from his office for six months. Governor Churchill revoked the suspension Helzheim mustered the Neel Guards were mustered into state service in June 1881 The Quapaw Guard was organized in Little Rock in 1880. This company and the Capital City Guards escorted Governor Churchill to his inauguration on January 13, 1881. The unit was deployed to Perry County in the summer of 1881 for three weeks to deal with a general spirit of lawlessness, reported by the county judge. The unit won drill competitions at the state fair against units from Memphis and St. Louis. The unit's armory was located in Little Rock at the corner of Markham and Chester Streets. Reorganization of 1891 In 1891, Captain E. D. Thomas, a captain of the 5th Cavalry was ordered to make an inspection of Arkansas State Guard on behalf of the Inspector General of the Army. Upon reaching Little Rock, Captain Thomas found that the only military organizations in existence at that time in the state were at the local level. Captain Thomas indicated that regimental and brigade level organizations had not been maintained in several years. Thomas indicated that the existing local companies were supported through "benevolence and that the state