ARKANSAS. 



ARKANSAS. 



I course it east, with considerable bend to the south ; a space 



of great extent u thus included between the Arkansas and the Cana- 

 Mm in which numerous streams, several hundred miles in length, 

 hare their origin and course. The great affluent of the Canadian, the 

 North Fork, IMS in this intermediate space ; it joins the Canadian on 

 the left bank six or eight miles lower down than the South Fork, 

 which enters the Canadian on the right bank. Near its source the 

 valley of the Canadian is narrow, and faced by blufls from 200 to 500 

 feet high. Lower down its bed is wide, and only a few feet below the 

 bottom-land which lines it on each side. Though it drains an immense 

 extent of country, it is quite stagnant for a large part of ita course in 

 summer, and its wide bed is in many places entirely dry; in one 

 instance observed by Major Long, the Canadian was buried in its sands 

 for more than 100 miles. The waters of the Canadian contain various 

 proportions of common salt and sulphate of magnesia in solution, 

 which often render them unfit for uae ; saline and nitrous efflores- 

 cences end considerable incrustations of salt characterise some portions 

 of the country drained by the Arkansas and the Upper Canadian. 

 Major Long's party, in their exploring expedition of 1819-20, mistook 

 the Canadian for the Red River, and were not undeceived till they had 

 traced this stream to its confluence with the Arkansas. 



The annual flooding of the Arkansas commences early in March, 

 and it attains its greatest height in the delta of Louisiana in the 

 month of June ; the flooding of the Arkansas is after that of the Red 

 River, which lies farther south and contemporaneous with that of the 

 Ohio. The flooding from the Missouri is the latest In the bluffs of 

 the Canadian, as well as on the upper part of the Arkansas, extensive 

 beds of gypsum appear embedded in a ferruginous clay and a fine sand 

 of a deep red colour ; owing to this the Arkansas and the Canadian 

 also are generally of a deep red colour, especially during the floods. 

 The waters of the North Fork, of the Canadian, and of the Upper 

 Arkansas are of a greenish colour when not swelled by the rain. The 

 navigation of the Arkansas is not obstructed by rocks, shoals, or rapids. 

 By steam-boats it is at all seasons navigable up to Black Rock, and 

 during the floods 350 miles higher. It is said in Haskel and Smith'* 

 ' Oazetteer of the United States,' to be navigable by boats in some 

 seasons for 1980 miles. 



(Darby's View of the Vnited Stattt; Long's Erpedition to the Rocky 

 Mountain*.) 



ARKANSAS, one of the western states of North America, is 

 bounded N. by the state of Missouri, E. by the Mississippi, which 

 separates it from the states of Tennessee and Mississippi, S. by the 

 state of Louisiana, S.W. by Texas, and N.W. by the western territory 

 of the United States. It lies between 33 and 36 30' N. lat, and 

 89 40' and 94 40* W. long. The river boundary on the east is about 

 360 miles, not reckoning all the small curvatures. The length of the 

 state from north to south is 240 miles ; the width from east to west, 

 228 miles. The area is 54,500 square miles. The total population in 

 1850 was 162,068 whites, 589 free coloured persons, and 46,982 slaves. 

 Arkansas is a part of the Louisiana territory purchased by the United 

 States in 1803 from France. It was made a separate territory in 1819; 

 and admitted into the Union as a sovereign state by an Act of Congress 

 in 1836. The following table shows the rapid increase of population 

 and of slavery in this state. The total population in 

 1820 was 14,273, including 1,617 slaves. 

 1880 30,888, 4,676 



1840 97,670, 19,985 

 1850 209,689, 46,982 

 The federal representative population in 1860 was 190,846, in 

 which number three-fifths of the slaves are included. This, at the 

 present ratio of appointment of one representative to every 93,420 of 

 the representative population, entitles the state to send two represen- 

 tatives to Congress. To the Senate, like each of the other United 

 States, Arkansas sends two members. 



flja^Wct, Hydrography. Arkansas may be divided into an east. -rn, n 

 central, and a western region. The eastern, bordering on the 

 Mississippi, is low and flat, generally covered with dense forest, 

 without good water, and almost without stones. In the central 

 section the ground begins to ascend gradually, and the forests are 

 inteisueissd with prairies ; hills also begin to appear increasing in 

 elevation as we advance westward. These hills, known most commonly 

 under the name of the Orark Mountains, form a continuous chain 

 which enters Arkansas from Texas, and crossing the state in a general 

 north-east direction, but nearer t*. the eastern than the western limit 

 ten the state of Missouri.- The Oxarks are a mountain system, 

 probably occupying two degrees or more in breadth ; the genera 

 sctton of the mountain mass is from south-went to north-east. 

 Hjwse of the miinmit* attain an elevation of 2000 feet The falls on 

 Upper Washita (34' 25' N. lat) are formed by a kin.) 

 M, extending across the bed of the river in the direction just 



of Arkansas is an extensive elevated level, 

 increasing in bright as H runs westward toward the 

 iinuiiu ; it ie a country of grass almost without trees, 

 "! *" hich join the Rio Roxo and the 

 ""\. Besides the Rio Roxo, which forms for above 400 

 Us* sooto-western boundanr of Arkaiuoa. >. t^rrii^.nr ( 



Imil bjr other afluoate of the 



of Arkansas, the territory is 

 !!.. White River and St 



'rands both rise in the Ozarks of Missouri, north of the Arkansas 



ir. White River is formed by the union of numberless streams 

 which rise in the Ozarks, and are united iu two main streams, the 

 western called the White River, and the eastern the Big Black I: 

 The Big Black River is formed by numerous streams which rise farther 

 north in the Ozarks ; one of those, called Spring River, which is not 

 !00 miles long, discharges more water into the Big Black River than 

 the Canadian, 1000 miles long, into the Arkansas. The united stream, 

 under the name of White River, has a general southern course, and 

 oins the Mississippi 15 miles above the outlet of the Arkansas, after 

 t course of above 400 miles. A channel forks off 3 miles above the 

 unction of the main stream with the Mississippi, and runs into the 

 Arkansas. The St Francis flows between the White River and the 

 Kississippi in a general southern direction, and joins the Mississippi 

 about 65 miles direct distance north-east of the junction of the, 

 Arkansas with the Mississippi. 



The Ozarks, between the Arkansas and Red River, rising above the 

 lowlands and spreading out into a hilly region of great extent, become 

 ;hc sources of numerous streams. Of these, one of the principal is 

 Jie Washita, which rises in Sevier county. The Washita, increased 

 iy the Saline and other tributaries takes a southern course, turning a 

 ittle to the east The junction of the Washita, Catahoola, and Tensa, 

 in Louisiana, about 31 30' N. hit, forms the Black River, which 

 empties itself into the Red Hiv.r. 



The two great rivers which water this state and contribute so largely 

 bo its prosperity the Misnissirri which forms its eastern boundary, 

 and the ARKANSAS which flows through it in a generally south-eastern 

 direction dividing it into two nearly equal portions are noticed 

 separate articles. 



' -oductioiu. The climate and productions of this 

 extensive territory vary with the elevation of the surface and the 

 distance from the level of the Mississippi. The soil varies from the 

 highest state of fertility along the banks of the rivers, to the most 

 sterile in parts of the prairie district*. These prairies are of vast 

 extent For a distance of 450 miles long and 40 miles broad, the 

 soil is all swamps and pools, with abundance of trees. The low 

 region along the Arkansas is covered with a dense forest of trees, and 

 an impenetrable undergrowth of shrubs and cane ; its fertile soil 

 produces cotton, Indian corn, melons, sweet potatoes, and some 

 tobacco, but the sugar-cane will not succeed so far north. The peach, 

 the nectarine, the grape, the papaw, and a variety of other fruits, 

 succeed better than the apple, which is small. The papaw is some- 

 times 30 or 40 feet high, and ita trunk not less than a foot in diameter. 

 The heat in summer is intense, and the annoyance from musquitoes 

 sometimes almost insupportable. The only water fit to drink is the 

 rain-water, which is preserved in large jars sunk in the ground, and 

 the river-water filtered. Snakes and other venomous reptiles abound 

 in the thick forests. In the early part of the year the cold is often 

 severe for a short time, and both snow and ice are occasionally seen at 

 this season. Thunder-storms in summer are often terrific, and the 

 rain descends in torrents. The climate is unhealthy exprcially for 

 new comers ; ague and bilious fevers prevail in the summer and 

 autumn, and are often fatal. 



The Ozark region, which commences near Little-Rock on the 

 Arkansas, and extends nearly as far west as the junction of the 

 Canadian and Arkansas, is only partially known. Near the hot springs 

 of the Washita, the soil iu the river-volley is of good quality, and the 

 lower hills, which are not above 300 feet high, as well as the base of 

 the higher hills, are covered with a soil of middling quality. The 

 black and red oak, with a variety of other woods, and a considerable 

 undergrowth, are found in the valleys of this region. On the rocky 

 parts of the hills there are three or four species of vines, said to 

 produce an abundance of excellent grapes. An immense bed of dark 

 blue schistose rock (clay slate) appears to form the base of tin- !,! 

 spring hill, and those near it ; and pieces of this rock in a state of 

 decomposition, possessing a strong aluminous taste, are frequently 

 met with. 



The mountains south of the Arkansas known as the Masserne range, 

 are so thinly covered with pine and post oak, that the gray sandstone 

 is the prevailing colour in the landscape. In the river-valleys of these 

 mountains, as for instance on the Saline branch of the Washita, then. 

 are lands not inferior to any in the Mississippi valley : the timber i* 

 pine, oak, ash, hickory, and sugar-maple. These trees, the undoubted 

 marks of a rich soil, are also found along the base of the mountains 

 south-east of the hot springs, and form an exception to the general 

 remark, that the best soils in Arkansas are in the river alluvium. 

 The deer and the wolf abound in then- high regions; and tin- wild 

 turkey is still numerous on the banks of the White Itiver. (Kor the 

 geological structure and general character of the OZARKS, see that article.) 



The region west of the Ozarks has been already partially described. 

 It commences near the jum :tioii of the Canadian and Arkansas; and 

 th'.nnli timber and thick undergrowth are found in the bottoms of 

 the rivers, we trace from thin |>oint, or about a degree westward, the 

 great red-sandstone formation with its bare and monotonous surface 

 whirli extends to the Rocky Mountains. The red colouring m' 

 the sandstone stains the waters of the Canadian a dark red colour, 

 and the soluble salts associated with this rock give its waters a strong 

 saline taste. 



