Arkansas Post National Memorial, located about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Gillett, Arkansas, commemorates key events that occurred on site and in the vicinity: the first semi-permanent Eupopean settlement in the Lower Mississippi Valley (1686); an American Revolutionary War skirmish (1783); the first territorial capital of Arkansas (1819–1821); and the American Civil War Battle of Fort Hindman (1863).

History

---

Arkansas Post was founded in 1686 by Henri de Tonti at the site of a Quapaw Indian village named Osotouy near where the Arkansas River enters the Mississippi River. This place was where the first recorded Christian services occurred in Arkansas. The site became a strategic point for France, Spain, the United States, and the Confederate States at different times during its history.

On 17 April 1783 British Colonel James Colbert conducted a raid against Spanish forces controlling Arkansas Post as part of a small campaign against the Spanish on the Mississippi River. Colbert's Raid was the only American Revolutionary War battle fought in Arkansas.

In 1803 Arkansas Post became a part of the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The post was selected as the first capital of the Arkansas Territory and became the center of commercial and political life in Arkansas. Prior to statehood the territorial capital was moved to Little Rock, Arkansas and Arkansas Post lost much of its importance.

During the American Civil War the Post became an important strategic site as it was the confluence of two major rivers. In 1862 the Confederate Army constructed a massive earthwork known as Fort Hindman named after Confederate General Thomas C. Hindman. In January 9-11 of 1863 Union forces conducted an amphibious assault on the fortress backed by ironclad gunboats and destroyed both the fort and the civilian areas of Arkansas Post.

Administrative history

---

The former site of Arkansas Post was made into a state park in 1929. It is located on a peninsula in the Arkansas River in Arkansas County. On July 6, 1960 the site was designated a National Memorial, and a National Historic Landmark on October 9, 1960. As with all National Historic Landmarks, Arkansas Post was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

References

---

• The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.

External links

---

• Official NPS website: Arkansas Post National Memorial
• Arkansas Post NHL information

1960 establishments | American Civil War battlefields | American Revolutionary War sites | Archaeological sites in the United States | Arkansas County, Arkansas | National Memorials of the United States | Registered Historic Places in Arkansas | National Historic Landmarks of the United States