Arkansas Post

Arkansas Post. . , Founded by France in 1686, Arkansas Post was the first European settlement in what is now the state of Arkansas. It was located along the Arkansas River at various sites near here over the years. The Spanish occupied it after 1763 until the United States acquired it with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Post was notable as the site of the only battle of the American Revolution to take place on the soil of present-day Arkansas. This Battle of Arkansas Post, also known as the Colbert Raid, was an unsuccessful attempt by the British to capture the village and fort on April 17, 1783. When Arkansas became a territory in 1819, the Post became its seat of government, and the first territorial General Assembly met there in 1820. A later session designated Little Rock as the capital , [Reverse side] , starting in 1821. During the Civil War, the Confederates built an earthen defense called Fort Hindman to hold back an assault on Little Rock and disrupt Union river traffic, but Federal troops took it in an 1863 Battle of Arkansas Post, and the settlement faded into history., With the placement of this official marker, the Arkansas250 Commission, appointed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, recognizes this site, for the events that occurred here, as among the most significant in Arkansas history. It was chosen by the commission for the consequential role played in Arkansas history in the 250 years from the birth of American independence to the semiquincentennial celebration on July 4, 2026.