McArthur is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Clayton Township, Desha County,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. It is located on

Arkansas Highway 1 Arkansas Highway 1 (AR 1) is a designation for three List of state highways in Arkansas, state highways in east Arkansas. One segment of runs from U.S. Route 278 in Arkansas, U.S. Route 278 (US 278) in McGehee, Arkansas, McGehee north ...

northeast of McGehee. McArthur is one of two possible sites of the death of

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...

. The Natives of the region called the Mississippi River "Tamaliseu", while De Soto called it "Río del Espíritu Santo". Afraid of revealing to the Native Americans that he was a mortal and not a deity, he opted for a watery burial under the Mississippi.Davidson, James West. ''After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection'' Volume 1. Mc Graw Hill, New York 2010, Chapter 1, p. 1

References

Unincorporated communities in Desha County, Arkansas Unincorporated communities in Arkansas {{DeshaCountyAR-geo-stub