Arkansas Post National Memorial
1623 Old Post Rd, Gillett, AR
Gillett, AR
A quiet point of land where the Arkansas River meets the bayous, and where the first European settlement in the lower Mississippi Valley once stood.
Arkansas Post is a quiet point of land where the Arkansas River bends toward the Mississippi, and it holds one of the longest stories of any place in the state. In 1686 the French explorer Henri de Tonti established a trading post here, the first lasting European settlement in the lower Mississippi Valley, on land long occupied by the Quapaw people who lived at the mouth of the river.
Over the next two centuries the post passed under French, Spanish, and finally American control, served briefly as the first capital of Arkansas Territory, and saw a Civil War battle that leveled its Confederate fort. Today almost nothing of the old town stands. What remains is a park of meadows, bayou woods, and interpretive trails, where the river and its wildlife have reclaimed the ground that history moved through.
What Guests Love
- Walking level, shaded trails through meadows and bayou woods where the old town once stood
- Watching alligators, wading birds, and turtles along the quiet backwater sloughs
- The layered history of French, Spanish, and American flags flying over one small point of land
- The deep hush of a place that was once the noisy center of a frontier
Worth Knowing
- The historic buildings are long gone, so this is a place for imagination and interpretation more than standing structures
- Summer is hot and humid with biting insects near the water, so bring repellent and sun protection
- Stay on the trails and give wildlife room, especially alligators along the sloughs
- The visitor center displays help make sense of the site, so start there before you walk
Details
Gillett, AR
Learn about Arkansas Post National Memorial
The Quapaw and the founding of the post
Long before Europeans arrived, this stretch of river country was home to the Quapaw, whose villages stood near the mouth of the Arkansas River. The French called them the Arkansas, a name borrowed from a neighboring people, and it eventually gave the river, the territory, and the state their name. The Quapaw were farmers and traders whose alliances shaped the early years of the post.
In 1686 Henri de Tonti, a lieutenant of the explorer La Salle, left a handful of men at a Quapaw village to build a trading post, and the settlement that grew there became the first enduring European foothold in the lower Mississippi Valley. Under an 1824 treaty the Quapaw ceded most of their homeland, and after further removals their descendants were resettled in what is now Oklahoma, where the Quapaw Nation continues today.
Three flags and a territorial capital
For more than a century the post shifted hands as European powers contested the Mississippi Valley. France held it, then Spain after 1763, then France again briefly, and finally the United States with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Each period left the little settlement as a hub of the fur and hide trade, a meeting ground where French, Spanish, Quapaw, and American traders bargained along the riverbank.
When Arkansas became a territory in 1819, the post served as its first capital, though only for a short time before the seat of government moved upriver to Little Rock. The town continued as a river landing and county seat, but repeated flooding and the pull of the railroads elsewhere gradually drained away its people and its importance.
The Civil War comes to the river
In 1862 Confederate forces built a large earthwork called Fort Hindman on the high ground here to control traffic on the Arkansas River. In January 1863 a combined Union army and river fleet under General John McClernand and Admiral David Porter attacked the fort in the Battle of Arkansas Post, overwhelming the defenders after heavy bombardment from the gunboats.
The Union victory removed the Confederate threat to river shipping but left the town in ruins, its buildings burned or battered and the fort dismantled. The old town never fully recovered. Over the decades that followed, the river shifted, floods came and went, and the settlement faded until only the memory of its long history remained on the land.
Wildlife, water, and the seasons
The memorial today is as much a wildlife place as a historic one. Its trails wind past meadows, oak and hickory woods, and quiet backwater sloughs where alligators sun themselves and great blue herons, egrets, and kingfishers work the shallows. Turtles line the logs, and in spring and fall migrating songbirds and waterfowl pass through the surrounding Delta.
Spring is mild and green, the best time for birds and blooming meadows. Summer is hot and humid, thick with insects near the water, so early mornings are best. Fall cools the air and thins the crowds, and winter is quiet and open, a good season for spotting waterfowl on the sloughs and walking the empty trails in the low sun.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Gillett
Gillett
About 8 miles northwest
A small Delta farm town, the nearest community, known for its long-running fall coon supper tradition.
White River National Wildlife Refuge
About 20 miles east
A vast bottomland hardwood refuge along the White River, rich in waterfowl, black bear, and old-growth swamp forest.
Stuttgart
About 35 miles north
The self-styled rice and duck capital, with a farm and grain museum and a famous winter waterfowl season.
Pine Bluff
About 60 miles northwest
A Delta river city with a railroad museum, band museum, and a nature center on the Arkansas River.