The Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park, located in eastern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

, commemorates the initial point from which the lands acquired through the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

were subsequently surveyed. The park encompasses of forested wetlands, a landform which is regionally in decline due to agricultural development practices that include draining such areas. On the survey point is a marker erected in 1926 by the L'Anguille Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

and designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

Description

The historic state park is located at the eastern end of Highway 362, southeast of

Blackton, Arkansas Blackton is an unincorporated community in Monroe County, Arkansas, United States. According to The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, "little remains of the town." Two nationally registered historic sites are located in or near Black ...

, at the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

junction of Lee, Monroe, and Phillips counties. It is a parcel of swamp, or forested wetlands, which is remarkably unchanged from the time when surveyors came here in 1815. This type of wetlands is becoming increasingly rare because of the practice of draining and clearing such land for agricultural use. The boardwalk, long, leads to the site of the marker, with occasional interpretive signs describing the ecology of the area and the significance of the landmark. The Louisiana Purchase Survey Marker is in height and is about wide at the base. It typically stands in about of swamp water. The inscription reads:

''"This stone marks the base established November 10, 1815, from which the lands of the Louisiana Purchase were surveyed by United States engineers. The first survey from this point was made to satisfy the claims of the soldiers of the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
with land bounties"''.

History

On April 30, 1803, negotiators for the United States and the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

, signed the Louisiana Purchase agreement, by which the United States acquired of land west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, doubling its size. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

, which traveled west along the Missouri and associated rivers, eventually reaching the Pacific Coast, from 1804 to 1806. President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

ordered a survey of the territory in 1815, in order to permit the orderly award of land in the territory to military veterans of the War of 1812. Prospect K. Robbins and Joseph C. Brown were commissioned to identify a starting point for the survey work in what is now eastern Arkansas. The team led by Robbins traveled north from the mouth of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

, while that of Brown traveled west from the mouth of the St. Francis River. On October 27, 1815, Robbins' party crossed the east–west line laid down by Brown's party at this point, formally establishing the Fifth Principal Meridian. The of land Robbins traversed is even today some of the most difficult terrain in the state to negotiate. Brown's party traversed of land alternately described as "good for farming" and containing "briers and thickets in abundance". Brown's party eventually surveyed as far west as present-day

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, while Robbins continued north to the Missouri River. Two trees near the site were blazed to mark the meeting point of the two survey lines. Although survey work based on this point continued in subsequent years, covering most of Arkansas,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, and

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

, the initial point was forgotten. It was rediscovered in 1921 by surveyors working the line between Phillips and Lee counties, who found the blazed trees. The

Marianna, Arkansas Marianna is a town in and the county seat of Lee County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,115, but by 2018 the population had dropped to an estimated 3,477. Located along the L'Anguille River in the Arkansa ...

chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution began a campaign to memorialize the spot, culminating in the placement of the stone marker and a dedication ceremony on October 27, 1926, the 111th anniversary of the point's establishment. One forgotten feature of the dedication ceremony was that four local landowners each gave deeds for of land surrounding the point, which would have created an eight-acre park. Arkansas designated the area as a state park in 1961, but appropriated no funds for land purchases or development. The Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, recognizing the swamp's natural significance, provided funds to purchase the 37.5 acres which now make up the park. The Commission holds a conservation easement on the property to limit development.

Gallery

References

External links

*
Louisiana Purchase State Park
at ''

Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas'' is a web-based encyclopedia of the U.S. state of Arkansas, described by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as "a free, authoritative source of information ab ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park 1961 establishments in Arkansas Aftermath of the War of 1812 in the United States Daughters of the American Revolution Historic surveying landmarks in the United States Landmarks of the War of 1812 Louisiana Purchase Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas National Historic Landmarks in Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Lee County, Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Monroe County, Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Phillips County, Arkansas Protected areas established in 1961 Protected areas of Lee County, Arkansas Protected areas of Monroe County, Arkansas Protected areas of Phillips County, Arkansas State parks of Arkansas

Description

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links