Arkansas River of Yesterday

Arkansas River of Yesterday. . The Arkansas River below you has a long history and continues to flow through time. , Bernard de La Harpe, the first European known to explore the Arkansas River, arrived here in 1722. His expedition was commissioned by France to establish whether this area was suitable for colonization and to map the Arkansas River and its tributaries. La Harpe and 25 men traveled upstream from Arkansas Post to a point 50 miles from Little Rock, near Petit Jean Mountain. Knowledge gained during this expedition led the way for many hunters and traders to use the Arkansas River as their main travel route. , La Harpe's journal reveals the dangers of navigating the Arkansas River: , Having advanced a league through the river, our small pirogue...has been dashed upon a log by the violence of the current, so that it turned over. The men hung to the log, but all that was in the pirogue has been lost, which consists of eighty-five pickaxes and hatchets, a boiler, three muskets and several other objects, wheat and clothes. We have had much difficulty in pulling the pirogue from beneath the log, after which we resumed the course. , Exploration of the Arkansas River Bèrnard de la Harpe, 1721-1722 , Prior to the construction of roads, the Arkansas River that you see from this vista was the major travel and trade route through central Arkansas. The river's shifting, sandy bottom and currents made it dangerous to navigate. The McClellan-Kerr River Navigation System transformed this river with locks and dams, flood control measures, and a maintained channel. Today's river is safer to navigate.