University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

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THE HISTORY OF ARKANSAS HAS SEVEN PERIODS Each Period Denotes a Step Forward in Its Growth other poet laureates—Robert Burns and Robert Mor¬ ris. Arkansas turned back to the Government in 1918, 1,000,000 pounds of sugar, or one-fourth of the na¬ tional allotment, that the soldiers might have more sweets. This was more than any other nine States turned back in response to the call. Arkansas has had the world ' s largest sorghum fac¬ tory at Fort Smith. Enough manganese oxides are in the state to manu¬ facture half the dry paints used in the nation. Lithograph stone for printing purposes is contained in Newton and Searcy counties and is superior to any in the United States. Arkansas has more medicinal springs than any State. It has grown the largest apple ever raised. The fruit grew to be 29 ounces on the tree in Benton county. Arkansas supplies more watermelon seeds than any other State. The state has a peach orchard which produces one peach for every man, woman, and child in the United States. Mountains of the nation ' s only deposit of saponite, the natural cleanser, are found in Arkansas. Only two classes of people speak of Arkansas ex¬ cept with praise. The two classes are those who are densely ignorant—and those who are morbidly envious, according to Congressman Jacoway. FORBEARS BUILD STATE That this great state should be so eminent is due to its heritage. The noble pioneer spirit caused men to push over the lands within Arkansas bounds and to es¬ tablish towns and civilization in a wilderness of po¬ tentialities. A search for gold brought the first white men to what is now Arkansas. Hernando DeSoto, governor of Cuba and Florida, came to the continent in search of precious metal. He and a band of hardy followers gained the Mississippi river and crossed it at about Chickasaw Bluffs, near Memphis, in 1541. Their jour¬ ney over the state is indefinite, but they probably fol¬ lowed the well-made trails of Indians. Stricken with malaria and rheumatism, the Indians directed him to a lake of hot water with wonderful healing power. This must have been Hot Springs. Later DeSoto raised the Spanish flag near Helena and claimed all the territory Early Traders on One of Arkansas ' Numer¬ ous Streams

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ARKANSAS ' HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT A Chronological Survey of Arkansas—Its Origin, Progression, and Present Status The past is past, and in the vaults of time A day, a year, an hundred years are one. The dead leaf mutters of a dying year But in the East blazes a new born sun. Thus Charles T. Davis closed his Centennial poem in commemoration of the one hundredth birthday of the Arkansas Gazette. Perhaps he felt that the huge tomes of history, the early lore, the dearth of memoirs, were overwhelming. Perhaps he looked to the future, to an Arkansas vastly superior to any age of the past. Ar¬ kansas should look forward. But now is the time to look backward, to review the highlights of a glorious past, to stand on the thresh¬ old of the State ' s second century and be like Janus, glance in retrospection at history, gaze with expect¬ ancy at futurity. From the time of DeSoto ' s journeys over Wonder State soil to Arkansas ' beginning as a Territory, she has contributed to society. From Territory to State¬ hood she has contributed. From 1836 to 1936 she has contributed. Arkansas will continue to contribute. Hon. H. M. Jacoway once cited Arkansas accom¬ plishments to Congress on the occasion of the State ' s eighty-sixth birthday. His statements still apply. ARKANSAS ACCOMPLISHES Arkansas won more medals at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in horticulture and agriculture than any other State. Farmers in the rice belt of Arkansas paid more in¬ come tax than any farmers of any similar area in the United States. Arkansas has more automobiles on its farms than any New England state. Waterworks systems all over the United States se¬ cure their alum for water purification from Arkansas bauxite. The paper-making industry and the manu¬ facturers of popular-priced baking powders are also dependent on Arkansas bauxite for their alum. cavations show that a sufficient amount of novaculite was removed at Magnet Cove to equip a nation with arrow heads, battle axes, and stone implements. Arkansas has pure glass sand in inexhaustible quan¬ tities. Slate suitable for composition roofing, in four colors—black, gray, green and red—is to be had in sufficient quantity to cover every building in the States of New York, Pennsylvania, and California, with the cities of Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Cleveland, Cin¬ cinnati, and St. Louis thrown in for good measure. Arkansas has marble—white, black, and gray—which will take as high polish as the famous Italian stone. College crews place hopes of victory on Arkansas manufactured oars. The round crate, used to ship bananas, originated in Arkansas and is made mostly from Arkansas veneer. Arkansas has two of the largest screen-door factor¬ ies in the United States. Arkansas ' seaport, Helena, is the head of naviga¬ tion for ocean-going vessels on the Mi ssissippi river. Over 65 per cent of Arkansas school graduates con¬ tinue their education at the University of Arkansas. LARGEST NUGGETS MINED The largest nugget of zinc ever taken out in one piece, weighing 70 tons, was quarried in Marion Coun¬ ty in 1893. A small chunk weighing 12,400 pounds was exhibited at the Chicago World ' s Fair, and after taking first premium for purity, was placed on exhibi¬ tion in the Field Museum at Chicago. The largest nugget of lead ever mined came from Marion County, and weighed 2,400 pounds. Inexhaustible is the supply of fuller ' s earth, a min¬ eral used to refine and bleach cottonseed oil and lard compounds. Albert Pike, America ' s most illustrious Mason, reached the zenith of his career while a resident of Arkansas. ARKANSAS HAD POET LAUREATE Scientists assert that the largest prehistoric imple- tment factory was located in Hot Spring County. Ex¬ Poet laureate of Masonry, Fay Hempstead, is a na¬ tive Arkansan. The Masonic lodge has known but two

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drained by the Mississippi for the king of Spain, whose country held it for 130 years. Arkansas was a football, says Historian John H. Moore, And all efforts to own it was a tournament from 1539 to 1803. There were five teams: Indians, Spanish, French, English and the All-American team. After DeSoto had died in Arkansas and been buried in the Mississippi river, his wife waited in Cuba for his return, but in vain. Finally she committed suicide by jumping from the tower of the fortress which still stands in Havana. FRENCH SECOND EXPLORERS After many years the French came exploring. A Jesuit missionary named Marquette, and a fur trader called Joliet, first explored the Mississippi river as far south as the mouth of the Arkansas river. They spent a short time with the Indians there, learned that the Father of Waters went to the Gulf, and then re¬ turned to Canada. When they returned to Canada, Rene Robert Cava¬ lier de La Salle looked the valley over. He went back to France and secured a commission from the king. In 1682 he raised the French flag at the mouth of the Mississippi and claimed the territory for his country. Then Arkansas went under French dominion. With La Salle was Henri de Tonti, called by some historians the Father of Arkansas. While La Salle was in France getting settlers to colonize the territory, de Tonti was busy building forts. When he went down to the mouth of the river to meet the detachment of settlers, he learned that La Salle and his troop had missed the river and landed in Texas, where the leader met death from one of his own men. Then de Tonti went north to the Arkansas river and there built a village which he called Post. This oc¬ curred in 1686 and was the first town in the Louisiana Territory. The town was later called Arkansas Post, first seat of government of the commonwealth. Arkansas again went under Spanish rule when Louis¬ iana Territory was ceded to Spain by France in 1762. France again received the country in 1800 when Spain ceded it back by the treaty of San lldefonso. ARKANSAS FINALLY UNDER U. S. The football was carried across the goal line for the last time in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson pur¬ chased the land for $15,000,000 from Napoleon. His agents in the deal were William R. Livingston and James Monroe. At this time, as a result of the constant booting the ball had received, Arkansas was but a wilderness. Ex¬ ceedingly sparse homes of white men existed among numberless red men. About 400 whites existed in the territory, according to Moore, but by the time Arkan¬ sas was accepted as a Territory of the United Stafes, the figure had jumped to 14,000. Seeking elbow room from the steady westerly spread of civilization, many men found haven in Arkansas. As they came, they established towns. The first post of¬ fice was in Davidsonville and immediately after, one was set up at Arkansas Post, which two were the only mail stations in the country until Territoriality was es¬ tablished. The only settlers in the land at that time were adults, but about 1800, John Patterson, the first white child in Arkansas, was born. He came into the world in a meager log house, the floor of which was constructed of puncheon, split poles with the flat sides up. His mother cooked on the open fireplace. The Pattersons, like the other inhabitants, looked eagerly for the monthly visit of the post rider who carried mail on horseback from St. Louis to Monroe, La. In 1812a catastrophe occurred in the territory which is now included in northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri that changed the whole map of the region. The great New Madrid Earthquake, so called after a little settlement in Missouri, caused the region in the St. Francis River Valley to sink and become inundated with lakes and swamps. Governmental administration was gradually being applied to the country and at the end of the childhood of Arkansas, when it became a youth as a Territory under United States fatherhood, two district courts had been established, sheriffs had been appointed, and the section divided into the first five counties of Ar-