| Reverse - Text |
Left section:
GRIND
YOUR COFFEE AT HOME
Right section: |
| ARKANSAS. |
| THE first civilized
people to enter the land of the
Arkansas Indians were the Spanish
men-at-arms of Hernando de Soto,
who crossed the Mississippi River
just below Helena, in 1541, and
remained in the country several
months. |
| The next
European visitor was Marquette,
who, in 1673, with Joliet,
descended the Mississippi to the
Arkansas River and made a map of
the region. Hennepin was possibly
the next explorer, in 1680. La
Salle, two years later, stopped
at the mouth of the Arkansas
River and took possession in the
name of Louis XIV. |
| The
first white settlement was made
in 1686 at Arkansas Post, by
Frenchmen, from a party led by
the Chevalier Tonti. |
| The
Territory of Arkansas was created
in 1819, and General James Miller
of New Hampshire was the first
governor. The first Legislature
met at Arkansas Post, the capital
until 1821, when the seat of
government passed to Little Rock. |
| Arkansas
became a State in 1836, its first
governor being James S. Conway.
At the outbreak of the Civil War
the sentiment of the people was
in favor of the Union, but it
soon turned, and in May, 1861, an
ordinance of Secession was
passed, and the State was
admitted into the Southern
Confederacy in the same month. |
| General
Steele re-established the
national authority in September,
1863, occupying Little Rock with
the army of Arkansas. In the
decade of the Secession War, the
advance of the State was greatly
retarded, but it now enjoys an
era of prosperity. |
| ILLUSTRATIONS. |
The
French on the Mississippi, 1673;
Guerillas, 1863-6; De Soto
in Arkansas, 1541. |
|
