10 Important Events

By ryen.hale
  • 1541

    June 18, 1541

    June 18, 1541
    Hernando de Soto of Spain was the first European to explore Arkansas.

  • March 13, 1682

    March 13, 1682
    Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, reaches the Arkansas on his way to the mouth of the Mississippi. He visits a Quapaw village and claims the land in the name of King Louis XIV.

  • March 2, 1819

    March 2, 1819
    Arkansas, which has been part of Missouri Territory since 1812, is detached and made a territory.

  • October 25, 1821

    October 25, 1821
    The capital moves from Arkansas Post to Little Rock.

  • June 15, 1836

    June 15, 1836
    Arkansas became the 25th state, with Little Rock as its capital.

  • February 12, 1859

    February 12, 1859
    Signing of legislation ordering all free Negroes out of Arkansas by the end of the year.

  • October 13, 1874

    October 13, 1874
    Ratification of a new constitution restoring the franchise to all whites and guaranteeing full civil rights for blacks ends the Reconstruction era.

  • August 1, 1906

    August 1, 1906
    Diamonds found near Murfreesboro, which becomes the site of the only diamond mine in the United States.

  • January 10, 1921

    January 10, 1921
    Discovery of oil near El Dorado triggers a boom.

  • October 3, 1991

    October 3, 1991
    Governor Clinton announces he will run for the presidency of the United States. Lt. Governor Jim Guy Tucker becomes acting Governor in Clinton's absence.