Introduction to History of Arkansas
The Bluff Dwellers were the first known inhabitants of what is now Arkansas. These primitive people lived in caves and on rock shelves in northeastern Arkansas before 500 A.D. The Mound Builders, a more advanced people, flourished in southern Arkansas in later pre-Columbian times. The Quapaw, Caddo, and Osage Indians were in Arkansas when the white man began to explore. The Quapaw (originally Ugkhaph, later Arkansas), after whom the state was named, migrated from the Ohio Valley around 1500.
Important dates in Arkansas1541 Hernando de Soto of Spain led an expedition to the region.1673 Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet of France explored the Mississippi River in the region.1682 Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claimed the Mississippi Valley for France.1686 Henri de Tonty, a friend of La Salle, established a trading station at the mouth of the Arkansas River.1803 The United States acquired Arkansas as part of the Louisiana Purchase.1819 The Arkansaw Territory was formed from the Missouri Territory.1836 Arkansas became the 25th state on June 15.1861 Arkansas seceded from the Union.1868 Arkansas was readmitted to the Union.1874 Arkansas adopted its present constitution.1921 The first oil well was drilled in the El Dorado field.1957 National Guard units and federal troops helped enforce a court order to integrate Little Rock's Central High School.1964 Orval E. Faubus became the first Arkansas governor to be elected to a sixth consecutive term.1970 The Arkansas River Development Program opened the river to navigation from the Mississippi River to Oklahoma.1993-2001 Former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton served as 42nd president of the United States.Spanish and French Occupation
The Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto was the first European to explore the region. He made his way westward from Florida in search of gold and entered the area in 1541. Jacques Marquette, a French missionary, and his companion Louis Joliet stopped to visit with friendly Quapaws when exploring the Mississippi River in 1673. In 1682 the Sieur de la Salle claimed the territory for France. Four years later a member of his expedition, Henri de Tonti, founded Arkansas Post, the first permanent white settlement.
The region remained in French hands until the Treaty of Fontainebleau, 1762, by which it was ceded to Spain. Late in the 18th century, settlement began. In 1800 the territory was returned to France in the Treaty of San Ildefonso. It was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
United States Possession
The United States formally took possession in 1804, when United States troops entered Arkansas Post. Arkansas was part of Louisiana until 1812, when it became a district in the Missouri Territory. In 1819 Arkansas Territory (including what is now Oklahoma) was created, with Arkansas Post as the territorial capital. The capital was moved to Little Rock in 1821.
There were only 14,2 73 widely scattered settlers in 1820, but homesteaders soon began streaming into Arkansas and settling along its waterways. By 1835 there were some 50,000 persons in the territory. In 1836 Arkansas applied for statehood and was admitted as the 25th state in the Union. The western part of the territory, now Oklahoma, had been set apart earlier for resettlemnt of the Indians.
The rush of pioneer families to Arkansas from the Old South and the East increased after the financial panic of 1837. Although most Arkansans were small farmers, many large plantations developed, and Arkansas became an important cotton producer. As sectional differences widened the gulf between North and South, Arkansas sided with the South. In 1860 black slaves made up about one-fourth of the state's total population.
Secession and Its Aftermath
Arkansas seceded from the Union in May, 1861, and joined the Confederacy, although some of its citizens favored the Union cause. Among battles fought in Arkansas were those at Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove in 1862. In 1863 Union troops occupied northwestern Arkansas. The Confederate government under Harris Flanagin moved to Washington, in the southwest. In 1864 a Union government, under Isaac Murphy, was established at Little Rock. After the war, Murphy was recognized as governor.
The decade of Reconstruction that followed the war was a bitter period in Arkansas history and left the state heavily in debt. It was climaxed by the Brooks-Baxter War of 1874, a clash between supporters of Joseph Brooks and Elisha Baxter, who both claimed to be governor. Baxter was eventually recognized as governor by the legislature. Later that year, a convention was called and a new constitution was adopted. The Democrats won the 1874 election, and reestablished the one-party rule that had been interrupted by Reconstruction.
Modern Development
The state gradually began to recover from the crippling effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Development of the railroads in the 1870's opened inland Arkansas to agriculture and industry. Sawmills were built, and lumbering became an important industry. Discoveries of bauxite (1887), diamonds (1906), and oil (1921) aided growth, as did an extensive highway-building program begun in 1915 and a number of soil-reclamation projects. Arkansas, however, remained primarily an agricultural state well into the 20th century.
In 1927 floods inundated about one-fifth of the state, leading to river-control programs. Depression and drought in the 1930's caused much hardship, and some Arkansans migrated to the West. In the 1940's and 1950's, new industries (predomi-nantly those using the state's raw materials) located in Arkansas. But chronic unemployment in older industries and in agriculture continued.
Desegregation of public schools began on a token basis in 1954–55. In 1957 a crisis erupted in Little Rock, when Governor Orval Faubus sought to block court-ordered integration of a high school. Federal troops were sent to enforce the court order. School integration then proceeded at a slow but steady pace.
An economic revival began in the mid-1950's following the creation of the Arkansas Industrial Development Corporation, first headed by Winthrop Rockefeller. Rockefeller became the state's first Republican governor in nearly a century, serving 1967–71.
In 1992 Bill Clinton, the state's governor during 1979–81 and 1983–92, was elected President of the United States. In 1996 Jim Guy Tucker, Clinton's successor as governor, resigned following his conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges. The charges resulted from a federal investigation of business dealings involving a real estate firm partly owned by Clinton and his wife.
As of the early 2000s, Arkansas has many challenges ahead. Air and water pollution must be dealt with, more energy is needed, and the farm economy and public education systems need improvement. Some new international trade has been successful and new industry attracted, but while the northwestern end of the state thrives, the Delta counties lose population.