When Napoleon I became Emperor of France in 1799, he envisioned the establishment of a vast "French Empire in America". He began in 1800 when he won control of Louisiana from Spain.
Constant threat of war with England soon forced him to . . . — — Map (db m108650) HM
This Stone Was Taken
from
Ruins of Old Bank, built
at
Arkansas Post, 1839.
Arkansas Post State Park.
Created by Act of Legislature 1929.
Introduced by Ballard Deane,
Representative, Arkansas County.
Act . . . — — Map (db m108550) HM
The land passed from France to the United States in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase. Arkansas then became a territory on March 2, 1819: the Post of Arkansas was designated its capital.
The Territorial Secretary Robert Crittendon, acting in . . . — — Map (db m108651) HM
The United States and several European powers vied for control of the lower Mississippi Valley. Arkansas Post was the key to that control.
In 1541 Hernando de Soto explored the territory which is now Arkansas. Sieur de La Salle further . . . — — Map (db m108647) HM
The Regent of France authorized a settlement at the Post of Arkansas in 1722. These early settlers were on good terms with the Quapaw Indians who "exhibited a great spirit of friendliness and hospitality toward the French". Cotton was introduced . . . — — Map (db m108648) HM
Here on the Grand Prairie you tread on
soil laid down over the centuries as the
mighty Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers
brought down their precious cargoes of
silt from the northern uplands.
The footprints of many were pressed into
this . . . — — Map (db m108486) HM
In 1763 the Post of Arkansas became
Spanish territory when, by the Treaty of
Paris, the French King ceded Louisiana
to Spain. For several years after the
transfer, French officers and soldiers
remained at Arkansas Post.
In 1771 the . . . — — Map (db m108551) HM
A bitter winter rain had turned the ground to mud. But the Confederate
soldiers had to keep digging. These rifle pits, lying just a few feet from where
you stand, were far from finished. Though exhausted and hungry, the soldiers
were ordered to . . . — — Map (db m107874) HM
The Confederate scouts were alarmed. Looking down river to your right, one exclaimed, "One could hardly see anything in the background but smokestacks."
Union soldiers disembarked from their transports. All night, knee deep in mud, they . . . — — Map (db m108509) HM
You wouldn't have got us had it not been for your damned gunboats.
John Dunnington, colonel, chief of ordnance
Fort Hindman's cannon fired at the nine gunboats
bearing down on them. Confederate gunners had . . . — — Map (db m108072) HM
Half the Yankees in the West [were coming].
Confederate scout
I expected Mary would be a widow before I got 10 rods [55 yards]. . . . — — Map (db m107858) HM
In the early 1800's the land in front of you was an important
center of trade and government on the edge of the Arkansas River
wilderness. Here were the homes, stores, taverns, mills,
docks, and busy streets of the Post of Arkansas. This . . . — — Map (db m108428) HM
The succession of outposts here, remote from centers of New
World empire, symbolized a dream of the imperial age: to
connect the Gulf of Mexico to North America's vast interior
by the great rivers that drained it.
Following British . . . — — Map (db m108485) HM
Spanish Explorer Hernan de Soto passed this way in 1542. Nearly
130 years later Father Marquette, the French missionary and explorer,
reached the nearby mouth of the Arkansas. In 1682 Robert Cavelier,
Sieur de la Salle, claimed this territory for . . . — — Map (db m108407) HM
Arkansas Post was not a single fort and trading center. From
1686 until 1863 there were no fewer than seven posts on the
Arkansas River between here and the Missişsippi. The flags
of five nations flew over them.
The 1686 post . . . — — Map (db m108464) HM
During the American Revolution, Arkansas Post
belonged to the Spanish, allies of the American
patriots. In 1783, British partisans led by James
Colbert raided the Spanish village and fort here.
It was one of the last engagements of the . . . — — Map (db m108483) HM
Standing here in January 1863, you would have seen
Confederate Fort Hindman. In what is now the water, the
fort stood atop a 25-foot high bluff The fort's cannon could
fire a mile up or down the river to protect the breadbasket
of Arkansas. The . . . — — Map (db m108511) HM
On this site from September 1862 to January 1863 was the encampment of a celebrated Texas cavalry company. Captain Alf Johnson's Spy company was active in conducting reconnaissance and small unit actions near Helena while maintaining vigilance on . . . — — Map (db m107804) HM
Named for Captain Robert Crockett, grandson of the famous David (Davey) Crockett, this community was a flourishing river port during the second half of the 19th century. The Crockett Rifles (Company H, 1st Arkansas Infantry), first Confederate . . . — — Map (db m107807) HM
On January 9, 1863, Gen. John McClernand and Adm. David D. Porter led a 30,000 man army and a flotilla of Union gunboats up the Arkansas River to confront Gen. T.J. Churchill's 5,000 Confederates at Arkansas Post. The gunboats bombarded Fort Hindman . . . — — Map (db m107701) HM
Here on June 17, 1862 a Federal fleet of eight vessels attempted to force its way upstream past Confederate shore defenses commanded by Captain Joseph Fry. The Confederates disabled the Union gunboat Mound City with heavy casualties before . . . — — Map (db m107918) HM
J. Deane and Son was a hardware store that
served this area beginning in 1890. During the
steamboat era, St. Charles was a thriving river
boat community and this was its largest retail
outlet.
Founded by Joe Deane, who arrived here . . . — — Map (db m108563) HM
[Northeast face]
Officers and men killed on
the U.S.S. Mound City
{List of 124 dead}
[Northwest face]
Near this spot, on June 17, 1862,
a decisive engagement was
fought between the Conf-
ederates entrenched and
the . . . — — Map (db m108071) WM
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