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

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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-

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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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An Early Arkansas Fortress—Fort Smith kansas: Clark, Lawrence, Arkansas, Hempstead, and Pulaski. ARKANSAS BECOMES TERRITORY On March 2, 1819, President Monroe approved the Arkansas petition to become a Territory and thereupon appointed Sen. James Miller the first governor, and Robert Crittenden his secretary. Miller had become famous in the War of 1812 when he silenced offensive British batteries. He was a son of New Hampshire. He arrived at Arkansas Post, capital of the Territory, on Dec. 26, 1819, and his arrival caused as much furore as did the first edition of the Arkansas Gazette, first newspaper in the Territory when it appeared Nov. 20, 1819. On the occasion of the first paper, a store at the Post gave away a barrel of whiskey to celebrate. No official record has been made whether the feat was repeated to honor the new governor. Secretary Crittenden arrived at the capital on July 4, when Arkansas Territory began its separate exist¬ ence. A two-fold celebration was held—one for the Territory, one for the National Government. Governor Miller resigned shortly after the capital was moved to Little Rock, and the president put George Izard in the chair. This educated man brought with him the largest library to be seen in the Territory, and his collection of razors, one for each day in the week. The site of Little Rock, and even the name, musf have been unattractive to some citizens, for Gov¬ ernor Miller tried to have the town moved to Crystal Hill, about 12 miles up the river, and built a home there, but his plan was not given cognizance. In 1821, some of the settlers there drew up a petition to change the name of Little Rock to Arkopolis, combination of Indian and Greek meaning Arkansas City, but this, too, was not accepted. CITIZENS MOVE FOR STATEHOOD Ambition characterized action of Arkansas and they aspired to statehood. Ambrose Sevier, Congressman from the Territory, introduced a bill in 1833 to have Arkansas become a State. It was opposed on the grounds that the commonwealth was not large enough, nor possessor of public buildings to accommodate a state government. A census, ordered by Congress in its investigations, showed 50,000 population. Gover¬ nor Pope devoted untiring energy to having buildings constructed on federal land. When Governor Fulton expressed disapproval of the people framing a constitution, they petitioned for a convention. Finally the legislature called a constitu-