Many events and places that have led to the shaping and constructing of Arkansas throughout the years, but few have made as great an impact as that of Arkansas Post as a strategic military and commercial center. Arkansas Post served as the beginning for Arkansas History and played a vital role shaping Arkansas through several central turning points spanning from French and Spanish occupation to present. The post was the first French settlement and Indian trading post for the French during their rule over the area that would become the Louisiana Purchase. It also served as the first Territorial Capital of Arkansas and the first home of the Arkansas Gazette. It was a site for a Confederate Fort along the Arkansas River during the Civil War. The moving of the Capital with the Arkansas Gazette following it, fighting at the fort, and the Arkansas River eroding its banks and flooding the town ultimately led to the destruction and abandonment of the town that was Arkansas Post. A revival of interest has been seen in the recent years though, on a historical basis, which has lead to several geological digs and the setting up of Arkansas Post Memorial.
Key events and time periods in the History of Arkansas Post are listed below with links to their own pages. Each link provides a more in-depth view of their corresponding topic.
 |
Establishment of the first Arkansas Post |
|
French rule of the Arkansas Post |
|
Spanish rule of Arkansas Post |
|
Arkansas in the American Revolution |
|
Early rule of Arkansas Post by the United States |
|
Arkansas Post as territorial capital |
|
The move of the capital and dwindling of Arkansas Post |
|
Arkansas Post in the Civil War |
|
After the Civil War to Current Day |
|
The Arkansas Post Memorial Museum |
Arkansas Post has been there through much of the important time periods and events in Arkansas history. It provided a start to Arkansas History when Henri de Tonty founded it in 1686, although a few years later, the original post was abandoned. While in the hands of the Spanish, Arkansas Post was the only site of a revolutionary skirmish in Arkansas, although the skirmish took place several months after the end of the American Revolution. It served for several years as the only white settlement west of the Mississippi River, and was a vital trading post and commercial port and settlement along the Arkansas and Mississippi River for over a century. It was also the site chosen by the Confederates to protect the mouth of the Arkansas River from Union. It is now today a National Park showing a vivid, diverse view of Arkansas history. Arkansas Post is not only a piece of history, it is a vital piece of Arkansas history, and there might never have been a placed called Arkansas without it.
Other useful links:
Arkansas Post National Memorial will provide even more information on this topic. It is the National Parks Services web page for Arkansas Post. It provides some history plus information about the Memorial and on visiting the memorial.
About the Author