The Arkansas Territory was a territory of the United States from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the Union as the State of

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 ...

Arkansas Post The Arkansas Post (; ), officially the Arkansas Post National Memorial, was the first European colonization of the Americas, European settlement located along the Mississippi River, in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, and in the present-day U. ...

was the first territorial capital (1819–1821) and

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

was the second (1821–1836).

Etymology

The name Arkansas has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of fashions. The region was organized as the Territory of Arkansaw on March 2, 1819, but the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically pronounced , , and had several other pronunciation variants. In 1881, the

Arkansas General Assembly The General Assembly of Arkansas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house Arkansas Senate with 35 members, and the lower Arkansas House of Representatives with 1 ...

passed the following concurrent resolution (Arkansas Statutes, Title 1, Chapter 4, Section 105):

Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings.

And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history, and the early usage of the American immigrants.

Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final "s" silent, the "a" in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of "a" in "man" and the sounding of the terminal "s" is an innovation to be discouraged.

Residents of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

often pronounce 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 Colorado, specifically ...

as in a manner similar to the common pronunciation of the name of their state.

History

The first official use of the name Arkansas came in 1806 when the southern portion of New Madrid County in Louisiana Territory was designated as the District of Arkansas. In 1813, it became Arkansas County in Missouri Territory. When Missouri applied for statehood, it requested a southern boundary at 36º30′, except for a small section between the St. Francis River and the Mississippi River, where it extended south to 36º. This line later became the northern boundary of the Arkansas Territory. On March 2, 1819, at the penultimate meeting of the

15th United States Congress The 15th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in the Old Brick Capitol in Washingto ...

, Congress passed the Arkansas organic act (3 Stat. L. 493), providing for the creation of the Arkansaw Territory on July 4, 1819, from the portion of the

Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southe ...

lying south of a point on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

at 36 degrees north latitude running west to the St. Francis River, then following the river to 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, then west to the territorial boundary. This included all of the present state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

south of the

parallel 36°30' north Parallel may refer to: Mathematics * Parallel (geometry), two lines in the Euclidean plane which never intersect * Parallel (operator), mathematical operation named after the composition of electrical resistance in parallel circuits Science a ...

. The westernmost portion of the territory was removed on November 15, 1824, and a second westernmost portion was removed on May 6, 1828, reducing the territory to the extent of the present state of Arkansas. Originally the western border of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

was intended to go due south to the Red River. During negotiations with the

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

in 1820, however,

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

unknowingly ceded more of Arkansas Territory. Then in 1824, after further negotiations, the Choctaw agreed to move farther west, but only by "100 paces" of the garrison on Belle Point. This resulted in the bend in the common border at Fort Smith. The territory originally had nine counties: Arkansas, Clark, Crawford (which included Lovely's Purchase), Hempstead, Independence, Lawrence, Miller, Phillips, and Pulaskị.

Demographics

In the 1830 United States census, 23 counties in the Arkansas Territory reported the following population counts (after only 7 reported the following counts in the 1820 United States census): These census counts did not include Native Americans, and the earlier count includes 1,617 slaves. Though a census of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

was to be taken as part of the Jackson and McMinn Treaty in 1818, it was never conducted. Instead, when the treaty was renegotiated in 1819, it used John C. Calhoun's estimate of 5000 Cherokee in Arkansas, despite the Cherokee Nation's estimate of 3,500. The

Quapaw The Quapaw ( , Quapaw language, Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or � ...

were counted at 455 in the mid 1820s.

Law and government

Robert Crittenden was the territorial secretary until 1829 and the '' de facto'' territorial governor, preparing Arkansas for statehood. Until present-day

received statehood, Fort Smith served as the ostensible legal authority overseeing the

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

. The

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

oversaw issues dealing with the Indian Nations.

References

External links

*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20121024013411/http://www.library.okstate.edu/okmaps/ Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory {{Authority control 1819 establishments in Arkansas Territory 1810s in Arkansas Territory . . 1830s in Arkansas 1820s in Indian Territory 1830s in Indian Territory 1820s in the United States 1830s in the United States 1836 disestablishments in the United States 19th century in Arkansas 19th century in Oklahoma Cherokee Nation (1794–1907) Former organized territories of the United States Pre-statehood history of Arkansas Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma Southern United States States and territories established in 1819 States and territories disestablished in 1836 Quapaw