About Arkansas

Background. The land territory of Arkansas has a very interesting past. The first European to explore the region was Hernando de Soto as he made his way westward from Florida in search of gold in 1541. The French came in 1673, and the Sieur de la Salle claimed the territory for France in 1682 (Arkansas).

Henry de Tonty was the first to permanently settle in the Arkansas territory at Arkansas Post in 1686 (see drawing). In a roundabout way Arkansas was named for a Siouan-speaking people who left their allied tribes to journey south on the Mississippi River. They were known as the Ugakhpa, or Quapaw, meaning "those going downstream or with the current." The present spelling, as well as the foreign pronunciation of Kansas, came from early French explorers. (Compton's).

The Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded the area back to Spain, but it was returned to France in 1800 by the Treaty of San Illdefonso (Arkansas). Spanish officials were still in charge when the Americans took over Arkansas Post in 1804 (Compton's).

1803 - Louisiana Territory. The territory of Arkansas became a part of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, as a result of The Louisiana Purchase (Arkansas Records). This year was marked as the official date that the Arkansas territory officially became a part of the United States (see monument). In 1804, the entire Louisiana Territory was thrown open for settlement from Louisiana to Montana (see map 1804).

1812 - Louisiana Statehood. In 1812, Louisiana applied for statehood and was accepted. Since its borders were defined (on its north side), the Louisiana Territory had to be renamed. Its new name was the Missouri Territory.

1819 - Missouri Statehood. In 1819, Missouri's application to Congress for Statehood was accepted. That meant the territory once again had to be renamed. So the land between the state of Louisiana and Missouri became known as the Arkansas Territory (see map 1819).

1836 - Arkansas Statehood. In 1819 the Arkansas Territory included what is today Arkansas and Oklahoma (excluding the panhandle - (see map above or map 1824). Before a territory could apply for statehood, it had to have three primary things in place:

In 1820, there were only 14,273 widely scattered settlers. But homesteaders soon began streaming into the territory, settling along the waterways. The lowlands were swampy, and consequently no roads had been built. In 1821, the capital was moved from Arkansas Post (on the Mississippi River) to Little Rock (on the Arkansas River). Little Rock has been the capital ever since, except when the Confederate state government was at Washington in Hempstead County during the Civil War (Compton's).

By 1835 there were some 50,000 people in the Arkansas Territory. The following year Arkansas had reached 60,000 and had its state constitution into place. On June 15, 1836, Arkansas ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the 25th state (see map 1836 and map 1850) in the Union (Arkansas).

For more information about Arkansas Political History Year-by-Year (beginning in 1819, the year it became a Territory), see Arkansas Territorial Restoration.

Important Dates for Arkansas Territory
1541	Spain's Hernando de Soto's Search for Gold	Westward from Florida
1686	Henry de Tonty first to permanently settle in Arkansas Territory	Arkansas Post on the Mississippi River
1803	Louisiana Purchase	United States Purchase of Land from the French (Ranging from Louisiana to Montana)
1812	Louisiana Statehood	Louisiana Territory Renamed: Missouri Territory
1819	Missouri Statehood	Missouri Territory between Missouri and Louisiana Renamed: Arkansas Territory (included Oklahoma)
1836	Arkansas Statehood	Oklahoma Border Established