After the Louisiana Purchase brought this region under United States control, it was designated the Arkansas Territory. Due to its regional importance, Arkansas Post was chosen as the first territorial capital (1819–1821) of Arkansas Territory; the capital was moved to Little Rock in 1821.
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Why did the Arkansas Post move?
Over the years, the Post relocated as necessary due to flooding from the Arkansas River, but its position always served of strategic importance for the French, Spanish, American, and Confederate military.
Why was the capital of Arkansas moved to Little Rock?
By 1820, a ferry across the river had found success but attracted few settlers. However, land speculators led by William Russell of St. Louis, pushed for a town to be founded on the site and for it to be the new capital for Arkansas, named Little Rock.
Why did the settlers have to move the Arkansas Post several times?
All were built with vertical posts and probably bark roofs. From 1731 on, Arkansas Post was a center of colonial trade and diplomacy with the Quapaw and other Indians, including Osage, Caddo, Chickasaw, and other bands that came to hunt and trade in the region.
What factors made officials move the territorial capital to Little Rock?
What factors prompted officials to move the capital only one year later? The Arkansas post was covers in swamps and mosquitoes, and it was a rough place to live. Little Rock was also closer to the center.
How many times did the Arkansas Post move?
The French moved Arkansas Post’s location as a colonial fort three times. One move was due to the ongoing struggle with the Chickasaws. A band of 150 Chickasaw warriors attacked the fort and partially burned it in 1749.
When was the Arkansas Post built?
July 6, 1960
Who set up the Arkansas Post?
Henri de Tonti
The Arkansas Post was founded in the summer of 1686 by Henri de Tonti, Jacques Cardinal, Jean Couture, Peter Bisaillon and three other Frenchmen as a trading post near the site of a Quapaw village named Osotouy.
Why is Little Rock located where it is?
The city derived its name from a rock formation along the river, named the “Little Rock” (French: La Petite Roche) by the French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe in the 1720s.
| Little Rock, Arkansas | |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 1, 1821 |
| Incorporated (town) | November 7, 1831 |
| Incorporated (city) | November 2, 1835 |
What was the capital of Arkansas before Little Rock?
At that time, the capital was down river at Arkansas Post, but owing to the location of Little Rock, on the banks of the Arkansas River in the center of the new territory, the territorial capital was moved from Arkansas Post to Little Rock in 1821. Ten years later, Little Rock was incorporated as a city.
What was at the Arkansas Post location before the European explorers and settlers arrived?
Arkansas Post Beginnings – Prehistory to 1763
Before European exploration, the lower Arkansas River valley had been home to numerous American Indian groups. Mounds, arrowheads, and pottery provide mute testimony today to the lives of these peoples.
Where was the first post Explorer settlement located in Arkansas?
Location: Arkansas County, on Ark. 1 and 169, about 8 miles northeast of Gillett; address, 1741 Old Post Road Gillett, AR 72055. Arkansas Post, founded near the mouth of the Arkansas River, was the first European settlement in the lower Mississippi Valley and the territory of the later Louisiana Purchase.
How was Arkansas settled?
In 1803, Thomas Jefferson and the United States purchased a large region of land from France called the Louisiana Purchase. For $15,000,000 the U.S. acquired all the land west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. The land of Arkansas was included in this purchase.
What side was Arkansas on in the Civil War?
During the American Civil War, Arkansas was a Confederate state, though it had initially voted to remain in the Union. Following the capture of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Abraham Lincoln called for troops from every Union state to put down the rebellion, and Arkansas and several other states seceded.
What is Arkansas known for?
Arkansas Facts. Arkansas is known for its lakes, rivers, and hot springs, extreme weather and frequent storms, rice and poultry production, and the only active diamond mine in the United States.
Where was the capital of Arkansas moved to?
Little Rock
Due to its regional importance, Arkansas Post was chosen as the first territorial capital (1819–1821) of Arkansas Territory; the capital was moved to Little Rock in 1821.
What year did the territorial capital move to Little Rock?
1820
In 1812 William Lewis, a trapper, built his home at the “little rock.” In 1819 Arkansas became a territory, with its capital at Arkansas Post. The site of Little Rock was surveyed in 1820, and the territorial capital was moved there the next year.
Which of the following European explorers discovered Little Rock?
Jean-Baptiste Bernard De la Harpe
La Harpe’s travels down the Arkansas River eventually led him to note two distinct rock formations, which he named “le petit rocher,” (Little Rock) and “le rocher francais” (the French Rock). La Harpe had discovered Little Rock, the modern-day capital of Arkansas.
Who is known as the father of Arkansas because he established Arkansas Post?
Henri de Tonti, called the “father of Arkansas” for his role in establishing the first permanent European settlement, the Poste aux Arkansas (or Arkansas Post) (Arkansas County); circa 1686.
What Indian tribe did the name Arkansas come from?
Quapaw Indians
The word “Arkansas” came from the Quapaw Indians, by way of early French explorers. At the time of the early French exploration, a tribe of Indians, the Quapaws, lived West of the Mississippi and north of the Arkansas River. The Quapaws, or OO-GAQ-Pa, were also known as the “people who live downstream,” or UGAKHOPAG.
Why did the French get along with the Quapaw?
They found four Quapaw villages: Kappa, Tongigna, Tourima, and Osotouy. Immediately, the two peoples entered into an alliance. Because they feared a potential alliance between the French and their rivals, the Tunica and the Yazoo, the Quapaw convinced the French to end their trip down the Mississippi River.
