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1541
Exploration
Hernando de Soto of Spain was the first European to explore Arkansas. -
Explorers
French explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette descend the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas River. Warned by the Quapaw (Arkansas) Indians of hostile tribes farther south they turn back. In July 1674 they turn back north, having reached the Quapaw villages of "Akansae" or "Kappa"near the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. -
Claiming Land
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. -
Trading
Henri de Tonti founded Arkansas Post, the first settlement in the lower Mississippi River Valley. It served as a trading post, a way-station for Mississippi River travel, and the home of a Jesuit mission for a few years. -
Colonists
A group of 1,300 half-starved colonists - whites and black slaves - abandons Arkansas Post after John Law's scheme to develop the Mississippi Valley collapses. -
Louisiana Territory
France cedes the Louisiana Territory, including Arkansas, to Spain, but French soldiers continue to man Arkansas Post. -
Louisiana Purchase
The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France, which had retaken it from Spain as part of the Treaty of San Ildefonso. -
Quapaw
The Quapaw cede their lands between the Red and Arkansas rivers. -
Louisiana
Arkansas, which has been part of Missouri Territory since 1812, is detached and made a territory. November 20: Arkansas Gazette, the first newspaper in Arkansas, published. -
Banks
Disillusioned by the collapse of two state-chartered banks, legislators ratify a constitutional amendment barring any banking institution from being established in the state.
