Brief History

Indians, primarily the Folsom people, the Osage, Choctow, Quapaws, and Cherokee tribes, and the Bluff Dwellers and Mound builders, inhabited Arkansas once upon a time. In 1541, famed Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto came across the area. Here he led a yearlong exploration for gold, with no success. Thus began the European expansion.

A few key points in Arkansas history include:

• In 1673, Marquette and Joliet explored the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas for the French.
• In 1682, La Salle claimed the land for the King of France.
• In 1686, the Arkansas Post, founded by Henry de Tonty on the Arkansas River, was the first permanent European settlement in the state. This is just south of what is now DeWitt.
• La Harpe, a French explorer, led expeditions up the Red and Arkansas rivers from 1719 to 1722.
• In 1792, France ceded Lousiana Territory, including Arkansas, to Spain.
• In 1800, a secret treaty returned Louisiana to France. Spanish officials were still in command four years later, though, when Americans took over the Arkansas post.
• Arkansas became a territory in 1819.
• Arkansas became the 25th state in the United States in 1836.
• The Trail of Tears is the route taken by the eastern Cherokees when they were forced to leave Arkansas for Oklahoma in 1838.
• There have been no Indian tribes or reservations in Arkansas since the 1830s.
• During the time of early statehood, most planters and farmers, as well as some slaves, made of the population.
• Arkansas got involved in the Civil War in 1861. It was the ninth state to secede.
• The Pea Ridge and the Prairie Grove battles were fought on Arkansas soil, in 1862.
• In 1868, Arkansas was readmitted to the Union.
• In 1874, Arkansas adopted what is still the state constitution.
• In 1911, a new Capitol building was built and hosted its first legislative session that year.
• In the 1920s, there was a short-lived oil boom, when Wildcatters discovered oil in Smackover, Ark.
• Sam Walton, owner of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores, opened his first variety store in Newport, Ark. In the 1950s, he founded Wal-Mart, which still headquarters out of Arkansas.
• In 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Arkansas Little Rock High School to integrate.