Arkansas In The Past - By: David Bunch

Long before any white men came to Arkansas, the Quapaw and Osage Indians roamed through the region. However, about four hundred years ago, the Spaniards led by Hernando de Soto explored part of Arkansas, in search of treasures. French explorers, such as Marquette and Joliet, and La Salle, later explored the region further. But they were all interested in discovering gold and silver, and did not settle there. The first permanent settlement was made by the French in 1686. In 1803 the United States bought from France a large section of land, known as the Louisiana Purchase, which included the Arkansas territory.

People from other parts of the country began to settle there. In those days cotton was the most valuable crop a farmer could raise, and many settlers, especially those from Tennessee and Kentucky, started plantations. Although Arkansas was not very heavily populated, it became a separate Territory in 1819, and in 1836 it became a state. The cotton-growing region was soon filled with big plantations, whose rich owners lived in fine mansions and owned hundreds of slaves to raise the cotton. Although only a small number of the people owned slaves, they were the richest and most powerful.

When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in I860, and it appeared that the slaves would be set free, Arkansas followed the example of other slave-holding states, and seceded from the Union in May, 1861. However, many Arkansans were against slavery, and in 1864 the people of Arkansas abolished slavery, even before the loss of the Civil War forced them to. After the Civil War, the people were very poor in Arkansas as in other southern states. The building of the railroads in the 1870s and 1880s brought to Arkansas many new settlers from Germany, Austria, Poland, and Italy. Gradually the state began to develop its mineral wealth and forests, and it grew into a prosperous state. During World War II, it contributed bauxite, coal, oil, cotton, and other products to the Allies. Since the war, the people have been developing their manufactures more and more.

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