On Pickens Street (U.S. 165) east of Jack Dante Drive, on the right when traveling east.
The Arkansas Indians (the down stream people), a branch of the Quapaw tribe, lived in Desha County. Their presence was first recorded by Marquette and Joliet, French explorers, in 1673. They were known as les Beaux Hommes. La Salle while . . . — — Map (db m107809) HM
On Arkansas Route 1, 0.1 miles south of Arkansas Route 138.
This important river port, county seat of Desha County from 1838 to 1874, was located 24 miles east at the junction of the Arkansas River with the Mississippi. The town was finally abandoned after most of it washed into the Mississippi River. — — Map (db m107758) HM
On Kelso Road, 0.3 miles east of State Route 1, on the right when traveling east.
In mid-February 1863, Confederate troops at Cypress Bend fired on Union transports on the Mississippi River. On Feb. 19, a force of Union cavalry and mule-mounted infantry set out in pursuit. The Union troops drove off enemy pickets before . . . — — Map (db m107693) HM
On North 2nd Street just north of Oak Street, on the left when traveling north.
The first school in McGehee was started about 1903 in a one room frame building at this location, with Miss Puntney as teacher. In 1905, in this building Reverend J. L. Cannon organized the McGehee First Methodist Episcopal Church. There were ten . . . — — Map (db m229500) HM
On North First Street (U.S. 278) at East Seamans Drive, on the right when traveling north on North First Street.
In memory of each serviceman in Desha County, who gave their lives for their country in World War II. The American Legion Auxiliary Unit of the Claude E. Jaynes American Legion Post 79, passed a resolution to make Seamans Drive the site for this . . . — — Map (db m229497) WM
Near State Highway 1, 0.5 miles north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
Where you now see cotton fields, 432 barracks once housed about 8,000 Japanese Americans.The Camp was surrounded by a barbed wire fence linking eight guard towers from which armed guards watched the camp and internees. The cam was divided by . . . — — Map (db m170077) HM
Near State Highway 1, 0.5 miles north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
Years of discrimination and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to the forced removal and imprisonment of Japanese Americans. All Japanese Americans on the West Coast were affected by the forced evacuation - including women and . . . — — Map (db m169429) HM
Near State Highway 1, 0.5 miles north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
Internees tried to re-create a life they might have lived
outside of confinement.
Earning money in camp was a constant struggle for internees, bills still had
to be paid on property left behind and everyone needed to buy clothes, . . . — — Map (db m169434) HM
Near State Highway 1, 0.5 miles north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
The memorial includes inscriptions on four sides. Dedicated to the Patriotic Japanese-American men from Rohwer Internment Camp who sacrificed their lives in the service of their country in World War II. U.S. Fifth Army 100 Battalion 442 . . . — — Map (db m170092) HM
Near State Highway 1 north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
The Rohwer internment camp included a 500-acre area for internee living quarters and more than 10,000 acres of surrounding land for farming and timber harvesting.Officially labeled a relocation center, the internment camps for Japanese . . . — — Map (db m167628) HM
Near State Highway 1, 0.5 miles north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
Plaque Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery Has Been Designated A National Historic Landmark This Site Possesses National Significance In Commemorating The History Of The United States of America 1992 . . . — — Map (db m167617) HM
Near Arkansas Route 1 north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
The U.S. entry into World War II led to the forced removal of-
nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast
The Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7,
1941, and America declared war on Japan the next day. . . . — — Map (db m167967) HM
Near State Highway 1, 0.5 miles north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
Babies were born, children went to school, adults had jobs, and some people died here during the three years that the Rohwer camp operated. The traditional Japanese family structure was threatened by the camp's communal living conditions: . . . — — Map (db m170078) HM
Near State Highway 1, 0.5 miles north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
"Let's teach (our children) that even in a life such as this, our hearts do not despair, that,
although wwe left behind many material things, we did not leave our courage, our fortitude,
and our ability to do the best with the least." . . . — — Map (db m169055) HM
Near State Highway 1, 0.5 miles north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north.
The relocation center sites were chosen because of their distance from the West
Coast and for their suitability and isolation as secured, closed camps. Inside The Relocation Center The loss of their former lives was profound for the . . . — — Map (db m169430) HM
On Arkansas Route 1 at Front Street, on the right when traveling east on State Route 1.
Watson became the county seat of Desha County after Napoleon was abandoned to the Mississippi River. Lewis W. Watson donated the land and built the courthouse near this site. The county seat was moved to Arkansas City in 1880. Watson remained the . . . — — Map (db m107757) HM
