| Arkansas Post National Memorial | |
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IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)
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| Location | Arkansas County, Arkansas, USA |
| Nearest city | Pine Bluff, Arkansas |
| Coordinates | [1] |
| Area | 757.51 acres (306.55 ha) (663.91 acres (268.67 ha) federal) [2] |
| Established | July 6, 1960 |
| Visitors | 32,160 (in 2009)[3] |
| Governing body | National Park Service |
Arkansas Post National Memorial, located about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Gillett, Arkansas, commemorates key events related to European-American history that occurred on site and in the vicinity: the trading post was the first successful French (and European) settlement in the Lower Mississippi River Valley (1686); site of an American Revolutionary War era skirmish (1783); the first territorial capital of Arkansas (1819–1821); and site of the American Civil War Battle of Fort Hindman (1863).
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Arkansas Post was founded in 1686 by Henri de Tonti as a trading post at the site of a Quapaw Indian village named Osotouy, near where the Arkansas River enters the Mississippi River. There the French conducted the first documented Christian services in present-day Arkansas. The site became a strategic point for France, Spain, the United States, and the Confederate States at different times during its history. During its time as a trading post there were three known locations and possibly a fourth as the area was prone to flooding.
On 17 April 1783, Indian trader James Colbert conducted a raid against Spanish forces controlling Arkansas Post, as part of a small campaign against the Spanish on the Mississippi River.
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 new Arkansas Territory, and became the center of commercial and political life in Arkansas. When the territorial capital was moved in 1821 to Little Rock, Arkansas Post lost much of its importance.
During the American Civil War, the Post was an important strategic site, as it was at the confluence of two major rivers. In 1862, the Confederate Army constructed a massive defensive earthwork known as Fort Hindman, named after Confederate General Thomas C. Hindman. It was located on a bluff 25 feet above the river on the north bank, with a mile view up and downriver. It was designed to prevent Union forces from going upriver to Little Rock, and to disrupt Union movement on the Mississippi. On January 9–11 of 1863, Union forces conducted an amphibious assault on the fortress backed by ironclad gunboats. They destroyed both the fort and the civilian areas of Arkansas Post.
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.,,[4][5][6]
As with all National Historic Landmarks, Arkansas Post was administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.[7]
It is located at 1741 Old Post Road, in Gillett, Arkansas.
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