State of Arkansas History
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Arkansas’s natural resources are abundant water; vast forests of quick-growing pines and valuable hardwoods; and extensive deposits of oil, natural gas, and many other minerals.
Arkansas entered the Union on June 15, 1836, as the 25th state. Until the 1950s Arkansas was primarily an agricultural state. Farming was the chief source of income, but a meager source for many, particularly in the uplands, and many people left Arkansas in search of a better livelihood. Then, Arkansas, aided by coordinated planning and new developments in transportation and power production, began to industrialize very rapidly. By the end of the 1950s manufacturing had surpassed farming as the chief source of income, and in the late 1990s Arkansas had an economy dominated by the manufacturing and service sectors. Tourism has also become important.
The state's nickname is The Natural State to call attention to the beauty of its natural environment. The name Arkansas comes from Arkansa, the French name for Native Americans of the Quapaw tribe and the region they inhabited. The s was added as a plural, though it remains silent in the pronunciation formally adopted by the state’s legislature. Little Rock is the capital and largest city of Arkansas.
Geographically located north of Louisiana and flanked on the east by the Mississippi River's west bank, the development of the state of Arkansas spanned three centuries. Long before frontiersmen from the newly formed United States crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and attempted settlement along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, Spanish and French explorers came upon the native peoples living in what is now Arkansas. Hernando de Soto's Spanish expedition crossed the Mississippi River to Arkansas in 1541, spending several months in the area.
French explorers traveled through today's Arkansas during the seventeenth century. A small French expedition of two canoes from Canada voyaged down the Mississippi River to Arkansas in 1673, led by Jacques Marquette, a Catholic priest, and Louis Joliet, a fur trader. LaSalle's expedition followed nearly ten years later, claiming the land for France. In 1686, Henri de Tonti founded Arkansas Post, the first settlement in the lower Mississippi River Valley. It served as a trading post, a way-station for Mississippi River travel, and the home of a Jesuit mission for a few years. The French later established several settlements south of the Arkansas Post in 1699, including Natchez and Orleans.
Prior to France's decisive defeat by Britain in the Seven Years War (or French and Indian War), in 1762 France ceded New Orleans and land west of the Mississippi River, which eventually became the Louisiana Purchase, to Spain. The Spanish began governing the area in 1766, but their authority was not firmly established for several years. Arkansas was in an area supervised by a lieutenant governor at St. Louis. Arkansas Post remained the center of administration for this District of Arkansas, a huge, undefined region, including all of present-day Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Settlers from the British colonies, preoccupied with severing their ties from the Crown, had not yet broken through the Blue Ridge mountains to the east. Once independence was won, however, the land formerly held by native Americans became “fair game” for grants to those who had served their new country well in battle.
Land grants to Americans, the majority from Kentucky and Tennessee, began to increase in number by about 1792, with settlers making their homes along the rivers of eastern and southern Arkansas. Early settlements cropped up at Big Prairie, near the mouth of the St. Francis River, and present-day Helena, but inhabitants were few.
Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Arkansas settlements officially came under United States jurisdiction as part of Louisiana Territory. In June 1812, Arkansas became part of Missouri Territory as a result of Louisiana's admittance to the union.
The northern quarter of Arkansas was established as part of the New Madrid District in Louisiana Territory. Directly to the south and running to the Arkansas River, an area shaped like a mirror image of Virginia formed the District of Arkansas. Both districts became counties when Missouri Territory was created. The remaining half of Arkansas, located on the southern side of the Arkansas River, was claimed by native Americans.
The Osage and Quapaw had resided in the area from a much earlier time, while the Cherokee and Choctaw received land grants from the federal government for land in Arkansas, having been forced out of their homelands in the east. Delaware, Shawnee, Caddo, and other native tribes made Arkansas their home. The Quapaw claimed the land south of the Arkansas River for approximately 100 miles and indefinitely to the west. The Osage had claimed a large region north of the Arkansas River, and in 1808 ceded land which became part of the District of Arkansas, then still part of Louisiana Territory. Treaties with the Osage chiefs were made again in 1816, 1818, and 1825, resulting in the loss of their Arkansas land and their removal to today's Oklahoma.
Two million acres, situated between the Arkansas and St. Francis rivers, were offered as bounty land for military service in the War of 1812. Each veteran was given a warrant for 160 acres, allocated by a lottery process.
An 1818 conference between the Osage and Cherokee met with Major William Lovely, Cherokee agent in Missouri Territory, resulting in the Osage ceding lands they had held in the northeastern section of present-day Oklahoma and a northwestern portion of today's Arkansas, at the time still part of Missouri Territory.
Arkansas Territory was organized from Missouri Territory in 1819 with a little over 14,000 inhabitants, exclusive of native peoples. Included was what is now Oklahoma except for the panhandle strip. Arkansas Post was designated as the capital. Lands formerly belonging to the Cherokee nation were organized as Crawford County. Little Rock became the capital in 1821. As the territory continued to develop between 1819 and 1836, more cession agreements between native tribes in Arkansas and the United States government opened the land to further settlement and eventual statehood.
Arkansas became the twenty-fifth state in 1836. Following the Panic of 1837, many people moved into Arkansas from southern and eastern states. Men from Arkansas served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War, some receiving bounty lands prior to 1855. The Gold Rush in California attracted people from Arkansas, most beginning the trek from Fort Smith.
During the Civil War, Arkansas men served in both the Union and Confederate armies, although the greater majority served for the Confederate cause. In May 1861, after Arkansas seceded from the United States, the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America divided Arkansas into eastern and western districts, with governmental seats at Little Rock and Van Buren, respectively. Federal forces occupied Van Buren in late 1862 and took control of Little Rock on 10 September 1863, forcing the state government to relocate to Washington in Hempstead County during the occupation. By late 1863, Confederates were forced into southwestern Arkansas, leaving most of Arkansas under Union control with subsequent raiding and plundering by Union troops.
One of the many campaigns and skirmishes fought on Arkansas soil was at Pea Ridge in Benton County in 1862. Among later ones were those at Fort Smith, Little Rock, and Prairie Grove. Pine Bluff was the site of a victory for Arkansas troops.
During the strife some families moved, and others sent their sons to Texas to avoid the difficulties. Some families from northwestern Arkansas migrated north into Missouri and Illinois to avoid the conflict. After the close of the war, Arkansas tried to attract European immigrants. Some settled on the rich land located between the Arkansas and White rivers. The development of railroads in the last quarter of the nineteenth century encouraged more foreign-born immigration. Immigration continued into the twentieth century, but the population remained predominantly rural, with an economy reliant on cotton, until after World War II. Black Americans, many whose ancestry has been part of Arkansas history from the territorial period, make up about one-fifth of the population
Naturalization - Naturalization records for Arkansas are maintained by the federal district courts in Little Rock, Helena, Batesville, Fort Smith, and Texarkana. Naturalization records for 1809 to 1906 were indexed in 1942 by the Works Projects Administration (WPA; originally called the Works Progress Administration). Some World War I soldiers from throughout the Midwest who were stationed at Camp Pike during the war were naturalized in Pulaski County Circuit Court. See Desmond Walls Allen, 1918 Camp Pike, Arkansas, Index to Soldiers’ Naturalizations (Conway, Ark.: Arkansas Research, 1988).
Native American - The Arkansas History Commission maintains an excellent collection of Native American records. Included in the collection are agency records, correspondence, and census of Creek Indians, 1832; census of Cherokees east of the Mississippi, 1835 and index; Cherokee census, 1890; Old Settler Cherokee census roll, 1895; index to payment roll, Old Settler Cherokees, 1896; compilation of Choctaw Nation records, 1896; Choctaw Nation census index for 1896 and final rolls of citizens and freedmen of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw tribes, and the Creek and Seminole tribes in Indian Territory, 1906; enrollment cards for the Five Civilized Tribes (in Oklahoma), 1896–1914; and the U.S. census Indian Territory, 1900. Some of the Commission’s information for Native Americans is online at <www.ark-ives.com/selected_materials/index.php>. The WPA Guide to 1930s Arkansas contains a succinct overview.
Other references include:
- Baker, Jack D. Cherokee Emigration Rolls, 1817–1835. Oklahoma City: Baker Publishing, 1977. Transcription of records maintained by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
- Edgington, Billy Dubois, and Carol Anne Buswell, eds. Vital Information from the Guion Miller Roll (Eastern Cherokee Court of Claims), 1906–1909. Mill Creek, Wash.: Indian Scout Publications, 1998. Over 1,000 pages of information, alphabetically arranged. Data includes given and surnames; Miller Roll application number; gender; birth year; birth state; city, county, and state of residence; and Soundex codes of surname.
- Foreman, Grant. Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1986. A history of the Trail of Tears.
African American - A few African-American slaves were in Arkansas before the Louisiana Purchase; however, after statehood, many moved into Arkansas with migrating white families coming from Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Their lives were primarily tied to the delta region in the southeastern part of the state where a plantation economy existed. In addition to copies of the slave enumerations associated with the federal census located at the Arkansas History Commission, Freedmen’s Bureau records in the National Archives are a valuable source for research on African-American families in Arkansas.
The Butler Center for Arkansas Studies includes African-American history online sites through <www.cals.lib.ar.us>. Among other data, one can access a “Selected Arkansas Black Bibliography,” a list of African-American Arkansas newspapers from 1869 to date, and a list of African-American Arkansas schools. The Arkansas History Commission maintains a list of African-American newspapers on its website <http://www.ark-ives.com/pdfs/AfricanAmericannewspapers.pdf>.
A succinct history and background of African Americans in Arkansas is provided through <http://www.afrigeneas.com/states/ar/>. This site also links with several others with record lists, including a few Civil War units, state and local resources, and other Arkansas history links. Of special interest is the Arkansas Freedman’s Bureau marriage records at <www.freedmensbureau.com/arkansas/arkansasmarriages.htm>.
A recently re-released work deals with slavery issues in the state. Orville W. Taylor, Negro Slavery in Arkansas (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2000), with an introduction by Carl Moneyhan, is based on previously unpublished sources such as diaries, plantation records, letters, family papers, church, city, and county records.
The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society maintains a chapter for the state. The address is AAHGS, P.O. Box 4294, Little Rock, AR 72214. Someone from the group can be reached by e-mail contact at <TRTL0793@aol.com>.
The Arkansas Black History Advisory Committee collects African-American historical materials for the Arkansas History Commission (see Archives), encourages research, and cooperates with the Arkansas Department of Education to develop historical materials for use in public schools. The historical materials collected by the committee include letters, diaries, journals, business records, photographs, church and lodge records, personal memoirs, and other related documents.
Arkansas History by County
