Misplaced Pages

#149850

103-647: About 500 people died and over 630,000 people were directly affected; 94% of those affected lived in Arkansas , Mississippi , and Louisiana , especially in the Mississippi Delta region. 127 people died in Arkansas , making it one of the deadliest disasters ever recorded in the state. More than 200,000 African Americans were displaced from their homes along the Lower Mississippi River and had to live for lengthy periods in relief camps. As

206-624: A humid subtropical climate . While not bordering the Gulf of Mexico , Arkansas, is still close enough to the warm, large body of water for it to influence the weather in the state. Generally, Arkansas, has hot, humid summers and slightly drier, mild to cool winters. In Little Rock , the daily high temperatures average around 93 °F (34 °C) with lows around 73 °F (23 °C) in July. In January highs average around 51 °F (11 °C) and lows around 32 °F (0 °C). In Siloam Springs in

309-483: A poll tax and more complex residency requirements, both of which adversely affected poor people and sharecroppers, forcing most blacks and many poor whites from voter rolls. By 1900 the Democratic Party expanded use of the white primary in county and state elections, further denying blacks a part in the political process. Only in the primary was there any competition among candidates, as Democrats held all

412-743: A southern state, sub-categorized among the West South Central States . The Mississippi River forms most of its eastern border, except in Clay and Greene counties, where the St. Francis River forms the western boundary of the Missouri Bootheel , and in many places where the channel of the Mississippi has meandered (or been straightened by man) from its original 1836 course. Arkansas can generally be split into two halves,

515-661: A continuation of the $ 1,000,000 report issued in September 1998, and the projects head work structure would be in Donaldsonville , Ascension Parish , providing a year-round flow of 1,000 cfs. The project was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers . This part of the project has currently been "de-authorized". In March 2006

618-432: A local deputy, tried to break up a meeting of black sharecroppers who were trying to organize a farmers' union. After a white deputy was killed in a confrontation with guards at the meeting, word spread to town and around the area. Hundreds of whites from Phillips and neighboring areas rushed to suppress the blacks, and started attacking blacks at large. Governor Charles Hillman Brough requested federal troops to stop what

721-467: A positive impact on the coastal wetlands by replenishing areas with a continuous supply of fresh water, and also by fighting the further encroachment of saltwater from the Gulf. As funding is obtained "post-Phase 2" will include dredging from Napoleonville to Thibodaux and other components. Residents are zoned to schools in the St. Bernard Parish Public Schools . As of 2007 Chalmette High School serves

824-522: A positive nationwide reputation, helping pave the way to his election as U.S. President in 1928 . Political turmoil from the disaster at the state level aided the election of Huey Long as governor in Louisiana. By the late nineteenth century, the United States was well aware of flooding potential along the Mississippi, which drained 40% of the nation's area. The Mississippi River Commission

927-568: A powerful polity down the Mississippi River, Quigualtam . His men obeyed and did not stop with the men, but were said to have massacred women and children as well. He died the following day in what is believed to be the vicinity of modern-day McArthur, Arkansas , in May 1542. His body was weighted down with sand and he was consigned to a watery grave in the Mississippi River under cover of darkness by his men. De Soto had attempted to deceive

1030-629: A result of this disruption, many joined the Great Migration from the South to the industrial cities of the North and the Midwest ; the migrants preferred to move, rather than return to rural agricultural labor. To prevent future floods, the federal government built the world's longest system of levees and floodways. Then- Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover 's handling of the crisis gave him

1133-582: A short time and often spawns smaller tornadoes. Little Rock has been Arkansas's capital city since 1821 when it replaced Arkansas Post as the capital of the Territory of Arkansas . The state capitol was moved to Hot Springs and later Washington during the American Civil War when the Union armies threatened the city in 1862, and state government did not return to Little Rock until after

SECTION 10

#1732773138150

1236-536: A state banking scandal and worse yet by the Panic of 1837 . In early antebellum Arkansas, the southeast Arkansas slave-based economy developed rapidly. On the eve of the American Civil War in 1860, enslaved African Americans numbered 111,115 people, just over 25% of the state's population. A plantation system based largely on cotton agriculture developed that, after the war, kept the state and region behind

1339-559: A swollen river between walls would increase its destructive potential. Flooding began due to heavy rainfall in summer 1926 across the river's central basin. By September, the Mississippi's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to capacity. On Christmas Day of 1926, the Cumberland River at Nashville, Tennessee , exceeded 56.2 ft (17.1 m), the second-highest recorded level (a destructive flood in 1793 had produced

1442-531: A tourist destination and the fourth-largest city of the state. It featured newly constructed, elegant resort hotels and spas planned around its natural springs, considered to have healthful properties. The town's attractions included horse racing and other entertainment. It appealed to a wide variety of classes, becoming almost as popular as Hot Springs . In the late 1880s, the worsening agricultural depression catalyzed Populist and third party movements, leading to interracial coalitions. Struggling to stay in power, in

1545-422: A variety of fashions. The region was organized as the Territory of Arkansaw on July 4, 1819, with the territory admitted to the United States as the state of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically / ˈ ɑːr k ən s ɔː / , / ɑːr ˈ k æ n z ə s / , and several other variants. Historically and modernly, the people of Arkansas call themselves either "Arkansans" or "Arkansawyers". In 1881,

1648-706: A very important position for the Rebels, maintaining control of the Mississippi River and surrounding Southern states. The bloody Battle of Wilson's Creek just across the border in Missouri shocked many Arkansans who thought the war would be a quick and decisive Southern victory. Battles early in the war took place in northwest Arkansas, including the Battle of Cane Hill , Battle of Pea Ridge , and Battle of Prairie Grove . Union general Samuel Curtis swept across

1751-501: Is Little Rock , in the central part of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, including the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area , is a population, education, and economic center. The largest city in the state's eastern part is Jonesboro . The largest city in the state's southeastern part

1854-518: Is Mount Magazine in the Ouachita Mountains , which is 2,753 feet (839 m) above sea level. Arkansas is home to many caves , such as Blanchard Springs Caverns . The State Archeologist has catalogued more than 43,000 Native American living, hunting and tool-making sites, many of them Pre-Columbian burial mounds and rock shelters. Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro is the world's only diamond-bearing site accessible to

1957-400: Is Pine Bluff . In the 21st century, Arkansas's economy is based on service industries, aircraft, poultry, steel, and tourism, along with important commodity crops of cotton, soybeans and rice . The state supports a network of public universities and colleges, including two major university systems: Arkansas State University System and University of Arkansas System . Arkansas's culture

2060-547: Is active throughout the region. In eastern Arkansas, one can find Taxodium (cypress), Quercus nigra (water oaks), and hickories with their roots submerged in the Mississippi Valley bayous indicative of the Deep South. Saw palmetto and needle palm both range into Arkansas. Nearby Crowley's Ridge is the only home of the tulip tree in the state, and generally hosts more northeastern plant life such as

2163-850: Is divided into three broad ecoregions: the Ozark, Ouachita-Appalachian Forests , the Mississippi Alluvial and Southeast USA Coastal Plains , and the Southeastern USA Plains . The state is further divided into seven subregions: the Arkansas Valley, Boston Mountains , Mississippi Alluvial Plain , Mississippi Valley Loess Plain , Ozark Highlands, Ouachita Mountains, and the South Central Plains. A 2010 United States Forest Service survey determined 18,720,000 acres (7,580,000 ha) of Arkansas's land

SECTION 20

#1732773138150

2266-470: Is forestland, or 56% of the state's total area. Dominant species in Arkansas's forests include Quercus (oak), Carya (hickory), Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine) and Pinus taeda (loblolly pine). Arkansas's plant life varies with its climate and elevation. The pine belt stretching from the Arkansas delta to Texas consists of dense oak-hickory-pine growth. Lumbering and paper milling activity

2369-520: Is infrequent but most common in the northern half of the state. The half of the state south of Little Rock is more apt to see ice storms. Arkansas's record high is 120 °F (49 °C) at Ozark on August 10, 1936; the record low is −29 °F (−34 °C) at Gravette , on February 13, 1905. Arkansas is known for extreme weather and frequent storms. A typical year brings thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hail. Occasional cold snaps stand to bring varying amounts of snow, as well as ice storms. Between both

2472-575: Is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, and athletic venues across the state. The name Arkansas initially applied to the Arkansas River . It derives from a French term, Arcansas , their plural term for their transliteration of akansa , an Algonquian term for the Quapaw people, which is believed to translate to "south wind people." These were a Dhegiha Siouan -speaking people who settled in Arkansas around

2575-744: Is part of the Ozark Plateau including the Ozark Mountains , to the south are the Ouachita Mountains , and these regions are divided by the Arkansas River ; the southern and eastern parts of Arkansas are called the Lowlands. These mountain ranges are part of the U.S. Interior Highlands region, the only major mountainous region between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains . The state's highest point

2678-523: Is widely believed to be from a similarly named town and castle in Wales . Names of antebellum plantations in the American South were often reflective of European roots and aspirations of grandeur; two upriver Mississippi River plantations, Nottoway near White Castle, Louisiana , and Sans Souci near Osceola, Arkansas , are two examples of this tradition. It is widely known for its role in

2781-762: The American Revolutionary War , a brief siege of the post by British Captain James Colbert with the assistance of the Choctaw and Chickasaw . Napoleon Bonaparte sold French Louisiana to the United States in 1803, including all of Arkansas, in a transaction known today as the Louisiana Purchase . French soldiers remained as a garrison at Arkansas Post . Following the purchase, the balanced give-and-take relationship between settlers and Native Americans began to change all along

2884-658: The Arkansas General Assembly passed Arkansas Code 1-4-105 (official text): 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

2987-579: The Arkansas National Guard to help segregationists prevent nine African-American students from enrolling at Little Rock's Central High School. After attempting three times to contact Faubus, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,000 troops from the active-duty 101st Airborne Division to escort and protect the African-American students as they entered school on September 25, 1957. In defiance of federal court orders to integrate,

3090-499: The Confederate States of America during the American Civil War . On returning to the Union in 1868, Arkansas continued to suffer economically, due to its overreliance on the large-scale plantation economy . Cotton remained the leading commodity crop, and the cotton market declined. Because farmers and businessmen did not diversify and there was little industrial investment, the state fell behind in economic opportunity. In

3193-538: The Final Phase 2 Design Report, Mississippi River Water Reintroduction Into Bayou Lafourche was published. In 2008 Hurricane Gustav was devastating to Bayou Lafourche. As a result of Hurricane Gustav, the CPRA implemented The Emergency Bayou Channel Capacity Restoration Project . By November 2011 this project, that included dredging 5 miles (8.0 km) of Bayou Lafourche from Donaldsonville to Belle Rose . In 2012

Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3296-577: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 . Several tons of dynamite were used to destroy the levee in hopes of preventing damage to the city of New Orleans . However, this effort became less than fruitful when the levee system was breached in several other areas to the north, preventing the flood waters from threatening New Orleans. It did cause major destruction in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes. There are several flood control systems on

3399-604: The Great Plains and the Gulf States , Arkansas, receives around 60 days of thunderstorms. Arkansas is located in Dixie alley , and very near tornado alley . As a result, a few of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history have struck the state. While sufficiently far from the coast to avoid a direct hit from a hurricane, Arkansas can often get the remnants of a tropical system , which dumps tremendous amounts of rain in

3502-526: The Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta . Previously part of French Louisiana and the Louisiana Purchase , the Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836. Much of the Delta had been developed for cotton plantations, and landowners there largely depended on enslaved African Americans ' labor. In 1861, Arkansas seceded from the United States and joined

3605-491: The Mississippi River below Memphis, Tennessee , reached a width of 80 miles (130 km). Without trees, grasses, deep roots, and wetlands, the denuded soil of the watershed could not do its ancient work of absorbing floodwater after seasons of intense snow and rain. In an unrelated flood at the same time, on Good Friday (15 April 1927), 15 inches (380 mm) of rain fell in New Orleans in 18 hours. This far exceeded

3708-579: The Republican Party shook Little Rock and the state governorship. It was settled only when President Ulysses S. Grant ordered Joseph Brooks to disperse his militant supporters. Following the Brooks-Baxter War, a new state constitution was ratified, re-enfranchising former Confederates and effectively bringing an end to Reconstruction. In 1881, the Arkansas state legislature enacted a bill that adopted an official pronunciation of

3811-621: The Saline , Little Missouri , and Caddo Rivers are all tributaries to the Ouachita River in south Arkansas, which empties into the Mississippi in Louisiana. The Red River briefly forms the state's boundary with Texas. Arkansas has few natural lakes and many reservoirs, such as Bull Shoals Lake , Lake Ouachita , Greers Ferry Lake , Millwood Lake , Beaver Lake , Norfork Lake , DeGray Lake , and Lake Conway . Arkansas's mix of warm temperate moist forest and subtropical bottomland

3914-541: The Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954), some students worked to integrate schools in the state. The Little Rock Nine brought Arkansas to national attention in 1957 when the federal government had to intervene to protect African-American students trying to integrate a high school in the capital. Governor Orval Faubus had ordered

4017-565: The beech tree. The northwestern highlands are covered in an oak-hickory mixture, with Ozark white cedars , cornus (dogwoods), and Cercis canadensis (redbuds) also present. The higher peaks in the Arkansas River Valley play host to scores of ferns, including the Physematium scopulinum and Adiantum (maidenhair fern) on Mount Magazine. The white-tailed deer is the official state mammal. Arkansas generally has

4120-524: The 13th century. Kansa is likely also the root term for Kansas , which was named after the related Kaw people . The name has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of ways. In 1881, the state legislature defined the official pronunciation of Arkansas as having the final "s" be silent (as it would be in French). A dispute had arisen between the state's two senators over the pronunciation issue. One favored / ˈ ɑːr k ən s ɔː / ( AR -kən-saw ),

4223-411: The 1830s the United States government forced the removal of many Native American tribes to Arkansas and Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River . Additional Native American removals began in earnest during the territorial period, with final Quapaw removal complete by 1833 as they were pushed into Indian Territory. The capital was relocated from Arkansas Post to Little Rock in 1821, during

Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 - Misplaced Pages Continue

4326-471: The 1890s the Democrats in Arkansas followed other Southern states in passing legislation and constitutional amendments that disfranchised blacks and poor whites. In 1891 state legislators passed a requirement for a literacy test , knowing it would exclude many blacks and whites. At the time, more than 25% of the population could neither read nor write. In 1892, they amended the state constitution to require

4429-514: The 1940s, Arkansas began to diversify its economy and see prosperity. During the 1960s, the state became the base of the Walmart corporation, the world's largest company by revenue , headquartered in Bentonville . Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 34th most populous state, with a population of just over three million at the 2020 census . The capital and most populous city

4532-496: The 1950s a pumping/siphon station was installed delivering 200 cfs. The lack of fresh water affected the natural hydrology and allowed salt water intrusion that in turn affected drinking water. In 2001 the Bayou Lafourche Diversion design, phase I "Design Report, Mississippi River Water Reintroduction Into Bayou Lafourche" was approved to study a diversion project. This would result in a draft feasibility report,

4635-644: The 1970s it was transferred to the city government of Jackson, and the Buddy Butts Park was created around it. It is presently little-known or recognized. The devastation of the flood and the strained racial relations resulted in many African Americans joining the Great Migration from affected areas to northern and midwestern cities, a movement that had been underway since World War I . The flood waters began to recede in June 1927, but interracial relations continued to be strained. Hostilities had erupted between

4738-671: The CPRA allocated $ 20 million to the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District, from the Coastal Impact Assistance Program, to implement State Project BA-0161 or "Phase 2", that is scheduled for completion in December 2016. Phase 2 includes 8.3 miles (13.4 km) of dredging between Belle Rose and Napoleonville , ending just north of LA 998 . The project will increase the amount of fresh water into Bayou Lafourche, that will have

4841-558: The Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion, has led to the construction of other flood control structures including the $ 106 million Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion Structure. Construction began in 1997 and was completed in 2004 providing sediments and nutrients to the Barataria Bay estuary ultimately benefiting 777,000 acres of marshes and bays. In 1903 Bayou Lafourche was cut off from the Mississippi. In

4944-542: The City's rainwater pumping system, and up to 4 feet (1.2 m) of water flooded some parts of the city. This local rain related flood was not connected to the Mississippi River flooding. A group of influential bankers in New Orleans met to discuss how to guarantee the safety of the city, as they had already learned of the massive scale of flooding upriver. On 29 April they arranged to set off about 30 tons of dynamite on

5047-599: The Delta. Many Chinese became such successful merchants in small towns that they were able to educate their children at college. Construction of railroads enabled more farmers to get their products to market. It also brought new development into different parts of the state, including the Ozarks, where some areas were developed as resorts. In a few years at the end of the 19th century, for instance, Eureka Springs in Carroll County grew to 10,000 people, rapidly becoming

5150-626: The French Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673, and Frenchmen Robert La Salle and Henri de Tonti in 1681. Tonti established Arkansas Post at a Quapaw village in 1686, making it the first European settlement in the territory. The early Spanish or French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling of the Illinois tribe's name for the Quapaw people, who lived downriver from them. The name Arkansas has been pronounced and spelled in

5253-545: The Irish founded small communities in the southeast part of the state. The Germans were mostly Lutheran and the Slovaks were primarily Catholic. The Irish were mostly Protestant from Ulster , of Scots and Northern Borders descent. Some early 20th-century immigration included people from eastern Europe. Together, these immigrants made the Delta more diverse than the rest of the state. In the same years, some black migrants moved into

SECTION 50

#1732773138150

5356-400: The Mississippi River include the Arkansas River , the White River , and the St. Francis River . The Arkansas is fed by the Mulberry and Fourche LaFave Rivers in the Arkansas River Valley, which is also home to Lake Dardanelle . The Buffalo , Little Red , Black and Cache Rivers are all tributaries to the White River , which also empties into the Mississippi. Bayou Bartholomew and

5459-509: The Mississippi River. The Bonnet Carre Spillway was built in response to the flood of 1927. Farther downriver, the Bohemia Spillway, started in 1924 and completed in 1926 just before the flood, was one of the earliest attempts to protect New Orleans from floods. Several diversion projects have been planned and implemented since the beginning of 1990, not only for flood control but for marshland rehabilitation. The Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion, located 15 miles (24 km) south of New Orleans,

5562-433: The New Orleans elite for its damage of downriver parishes aided Huey Long 's election to the governorship in 1928. Hoover was much lauded initially for his masterful handling of the refugee camps known as "tent cities". These densely populated camps required basic necessities which were difficult to attain, such as water and sanitation facilities. Hoover used a combination of bureaucratic resources and grassroots forces to give

5665-428: The North, particularly Chicago ; many thousands more followed in the following decades. Herbert Hoover enhanced his reputation by his achievements in directing flood relief operations as Secretary of Commerce under President Calvin Coolidge . The next year Hoover easily won the Republican 1928 nomination for President, and the general election that year. In upstate Louisiana, anger among yeomen farmers directed at

5768-407: The Ozark Mountains, Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas River Valley , Gulf Coastal Plain, Crowley's Ridge , and the Arkansas Delta, with Central Arkansas sometimes included as a blend of multiple regions. The southeastern part of Arkansas along the Mississippi Alluvial Plain is sometimes called the Arkansas Delta. This region is a flat landscape of rich alluvial soils formed by repeated flooding of

5871-424: The absorption of seasonal rains by the floodplains, increasing the speed of the current and preventing the deposit of new soils along the way. The levees did not prevent recurrences of significant flooding, especially a major flood in 1937. To better study and plan for future situations, Lt. Eugene Raybold proposed laying out a physical hydraulic model to simulate the basin's response to various rainfall scenarios. Land

5974-461: The adjacent Mississippi. Farther from the river, in the southeastern part of the state, the Grand Prairie has a more undulating landscape. Both are fertile agricultural areas. The Delta region is bisected by a geological formation known as Crowley's Ridge . A narrow band of rolling hills, Crowley's Ridge rises 250 to 500 feet (76 to 152 m) above the surrounding alluvial plain and underlies many of eastern Arkansas's major towns. Northwest Arkansas

6077-413: The area because of opportunities to develop the bottomlands and own their own property. Black sharecroppers began to try to organize a farmers' union after World War   I. They were seeking better conditions of payment and accounting from white landowners of the area cotton plantations. Whites resisted any change and often tried to break up their meetings. On September 30, 1919, two white men, including

6180-463: The camps. By August 1927, the flood subsided. Hundreds of thousands of people had been made homeless and displaced; properties, livestock and crops were destroyed. In terms of population affected, in territory flooded, in property loss and crop destruction, the flood's figures were "staggering". Great loss of life was averted by relief efforts, largely by the American Red Cross through the efforts of local workers. African Americans, comprising 75% of

6283-433: The common pronunciation of the name of their state. Settlers, such as fur trappers, moved to Arkansas in the early 18th century. These people used Arkansas Post as a home base and entrepôt . During the colonial period, Arkansas changed hands between France and Spain following the Seven Years' War , although neither showed interest in the remote settlement of Arkansas Post. In April 1783, Arkansas saw its only battle of

SECTION 60

#1732773138150

6386-428: 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

6489-409: The cotton plantation economy in southeast Arkansas firmly supported slavery, as they perceived slave labor as the best or "only" economically viable method of harvesting their commodity crops. The "hill country" of northwest Arkansas was unable to grow cotton and relied on a cash-scarce, subsistence farming economy. As European Americans settled throughout the East Coast and into the Midwest, in

6592-425: The crest of the unbroken Greenville Levee. But many were stranded there for days without food or clean water. Following the Great Flood of 1927, multiple states needed money to rebuild their roads and bridges. Louisiana received $ 1,067,336 from the federal government for rebuilding, but it had to institute a state gasoline tax to create a $ 30,000,000 fund to pay for new hard-surfaced highways. The Corps of Engineers

6695-471: The day after the demolitions, released major amounts of flood waters, reducing the water that reached the city. The New Orleans businessmen did not compensate the losses of people in the downriver parishes. To address the disaster, Congress passed the Mississippi Flood Control Act, which put greater stress on construction in the Mississippi Delta levee camps despite warnings from the NAACP about harsh living conditions and mistreatment of black laborers within

6798-465: The draft, high taxes, and martial law. Under the Military Reconstruction Act , Congress declared Arkansas restored to the Union in June 1868, after the Legislature accepted the 14th Amendment. The Republican-controlled reconstruction legislature established universal male suffrage (though temporarily disfranchising former Confederate Army officers, who were all Democrats), a public education system for blacks and whites, and passed general issues to improve

6901-413: 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. Citizens of the state of Kansas often pronounce the Arkansas River as / ɑːr ˈ k æ n z ə s / , in a manner similar to

7004-444: The frontier, including in Arkansas. Following a controversy over allowing slavery in the territory , the Territory of Arkansas was organized on July 4, 1819. Gradual emancipation in Arkansas was struck down by one vote, the Speaker of the House Henry Clay , allowing Arkansas to organize as a slave territory. Slavery became a wedge issue in Arkansas, forming a geographic divide that remained for decades. Owners and operators of

7107-411: The governor and city of Little Rock decided to close the high schools for the remainder of the school year. By the fall of 1959, the Little Rock high schools were completely integrated. Arkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, and Tennessee and Mississippi to the east. The United States Census Bureau classifies Arkansas as

7210-480: The highlands in the northwest and the lowlands of the southeast. The highlands are part of the Southern Interior Highlands, including The Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains . The southern lowlands include the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Arkansas Delta . This split can yield to a regional division into northwest, southwest, northeast, southeast, and central Arkansas. These regions are broad and not defined along county lines. Arkansas has seven distinct natural regions:

7313-467: The hogs and later, commanded by former aide-de-camp Moscoso, attempted an overland return to Mexico. They made it as far as Texas before running into territory too dry for maize farming and too thinly populated to sustain themselves by stealing food from the locals. The expedition promptly backtracked to Arkansas. After building a small fleet of boats they then headed down the Mississippi River and eventually on to Mexico by water. Later explorers included

7416-538: The late 19th century, the state instituted various Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise and segregate the African-American population. White interests dominated Arkansas's politics, with disenfranchisement of African Americans and refusal to reapportion the legislature; only after the federal legislation passed were more African Americans able to vote. During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Arkansas and particularly Little Rock were major battlegrounds for efforts to integrate schools. Following World War II in

7519-506: The levee at Caernarvon, Louisiana , releasing 250,000 cu ft/s (7,000 m/s) of water. This was intended to prevent New Orleans from suffering serious damage, and it resulted in flooding much of the less densely populated St. Bernard Parish and all of Plaquemines Parish 's east bank. As it turned out, the destruction of the Caernarvon levee was unnecessary; several major levee breaks well upstream of New Orleans, including one

7622-550: The name of their white employer or voucher from a white person. In order to fully exploit black labor, Blacks were frequently forced to work against their will, and were not permitted to leave the camps. Later reports about the poor treatment in camps led Hoover to make promises of change to the African-American community, which he broke. As a result, he lost the Black vote in the North in his re-election campaign in 1932. Several reports on

7725-553: The nation for decades. The wealth developed among planters of southeast Arkansas caused a political rift between the northwest and southeast. Many politicians were elected to office from the Family , the Southern rights political force in antebellum Arkansas. Residents generally wanted to avoid a civil war. When the Gulf states seceded in early 1861, delegates to a convention called to determine whether Arkansas should secede referred

7828-563: The national Democrats . Arkansas 35°N 92°W  /  35°N 92°W  / 35; -92  ( State of Arkansas ) Arkansas ( / ˈ ɑːr k ən s ɔː / AR -kən-saw ) 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

7931-493: The native population into thinking he was an immortal deity, sun of the sun, in order to forestall attack by outraged Native Americans on his by then weakened and bedraggled army. In order to keep the ruse up, his men informed the locals that de Soto had ascended into the sky. His will at the time of his death listed "four Indian slaves, three horses and 700 hogs" which were auctioned off. The starving men, who had been living off maize stolen from natives, immediately started butchering

8034-456: The northwest part of the state, the average high and low temperatures in July are 89 and 67 °F (32 and 19 °C) and in January the average high and low are 44 and 23 °F (7 and −5 °C). Annual precipitation throughout the state averages between about 40 and 60 inches (1,000 and 1,500 mm); it is somewhat wetter in the south and drier in the northern part of the state. Snowfall

8137-703: The order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt given shortly after Imperial Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor , nearly 16,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from the West Coast of the United States and incarcerated in two internment camps in the Arkansas Delta . The Rohwer Camp in Desha County operated from September 1942 to November 1945 and at its peak interned 8,475 prisoners. The Jerome War Relocation Center in Drew County operated from October 1942 to June 1944 and held about 8,000. After

8240-481: The other / ɑːr ˈ k æ n z ə s / ( ar- KAN -zəs ). In 2007, the state legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring that the possessive form of the state's name is Arkansas's , which the state government has increasingly followed. Before European settlement of North America, Arkansas, was inhabited by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The Caddo , Osage , and Quapaw peoples encountered European explorers. The first of these Europeans

8343-466: The population in the Delta lowlands and supplying 95% of the agricultural labor force, were most affected by the flood. Historians estimate that of the 637,000 people forced to relocate by the flooding, 94% lived in three states: Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana; and that 69% of the 325,146 who occupied the relief camps were African American. In one location, over 13,000 evacuees near Greenville, Mississippi , were gathered from area farms, and evacuated to

8446-419: The population of Arkansas was 3,017,804 on July 1, 2019, a 3.49% increase since the 2010 United States census . At the 2020 U.S. census , Arkansas had a resident population of 3,011,524. Caernarvon, Louisiana Caernarvon is an unincorporated community in St. Bernard Parish , Louisiana , United States. The name of the community is from a plantation originally located here. The plantation's name

8549-471: The power. The state was a Democratic one-party state for decades, until after passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 to enforce constitutional rights. Between 1905 and 1911, Arkansas began to receive a small immigration of German , Slovak , and Scots-Irish from Europe. The German and Slovak peoples settled in the eastern part of the state known as the Prairie , and

8652-405: The public for digging. Arkansas is home to a dozen Wilderness Areas totaling 158,444 acres (641.20 km ). These areas are set aside for outdoor recreation and are open to hunting, fishing, hiking, and primitive camping. No mechanized vehicles nor developed campgrounds are allowed in these areas. Arkansas has many rivers, lakes, and reservoirs within or along its borders. Major tributaries to

8755-468: The question back to the voters for a referendum to be held in August. Arkansas did not secede until Abraham Lincoln demanded Arkansas troops be sent to Fort Sumter to quell the rebellion there . On May 6, the members of the state convention, having been recalled by the convention president, voted to terminate Arkansas's membership in the Union and join the Confederate States of America . Arkansas held

8858-404: The races; a Black man was shot and killed by a white police officer when he refused to unload a relief boat at gunpoint. Near Helena, Arkansas , Owen Flemming was lynched after he killed a plantation overseer, who wanted to force him to rescue the plantation owner's mules. As a result of displacements lasting up to six months, tens of thousands of local African Americans moved to the big cities of

8961-467: The record level – 58.5 ft (17.8 m)). Flooding peaked in the Lower Mississippi River near Mound Landing, Mississippi , and Arkansas City, Arkansas , and broke levees along the river in at least 145 places. The water flooded more than 27,000 square miles (70,000 km) of land, and left more than 700,000 people homeless. Approximately 500 people died as a result of flooding. Monetary damages due to flooding reached approximately $ 1 billion, which

9064-544: The south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma to the west. Its name derives from the Osage language , and refers to their relatives, the Quapaw people. The state's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains , which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands , to the densely forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands , to the eastern lowlands along

9167-606: The state and help more of the population. The State soon came under control of the Radical Republicans and Unionists, and led by Governor Powell Clayton , they presided over a time of great upheaval as Confederate sympathizers and the Ku Klux Klan fought the new developments, particularly voting rights for African Americans. In 1874, the Brooks-Baxter War , a political struggle between factions of

9270-469: The state to Helena in the Delta in 1862. Little Rock was captured the following year. The government shifted the state Confederate capital to Hot Springs , and then again to Washington from 1863 to 1865, for the remainder of the war. Throughout the state, guerrilla warfare ravaged the countryside and destroyed cities. Passion for the Confederate cause waned after implementation of programs such as

9373-462: The state's name, to combat a controversy then simmering. (See Law and Government below.) After Reconstruction, the state began to receive more immigrants and migrants . Chinese, Italian , and Syrian men were recruited for farm labor in the developing Delta region. None of these nationalities stayed long at farm labor; the Chinese especially, as they quickly became small merchants in towns around

9476-525: The tent cities the opportunity to become self-sufficient. This method presented difficulties, as rural leaders were unprepared to manage the chaotic circumstances found in large camps. This led Hoover eventually to place the relief camps under government supervision. The refugee camps also dealt with extreme racial inequality, as supplies and means of evacuation after flooding were given strictly to white citizens, with Blacks receiving only leftovers. African Americans also did not receive supplies without providing

9579-590: The terrible situation in the refugee camps, including one by the Colored Advisory Commission headed by Robert Russa Moton , were kept out of the media at Hoover's request, with the pledge of further reforms for Blacks after the presidential election in 1928. His failure to deliver followed other disappointments by the Republican Party; Moton and other influential African Americans began to encourage Black Americans to align instead with

9682-547: The territorial period. When Arkansas applied for statehood, the slavery issue was again raised in Washington, D.C. Congress eventually approved the Arkansas Constitution after a 25-hour session, admitting Arkansas on June 15, 1836, as the 25th state and the 13th slave state , having a population of about 60,000. Arkansas struggled with taxation to support its new state government, a problem made worse by

9785-475: The two largest metropolitan areas. Other cities in Arkansas include Pine Bluff , Crossett , Bryant , Lake Village , Hot Springs , Bentonville , Texarkana , Sherwood , Jacksonville , Russellville , Bella Vista , West Memphis , Paragould , Cabot , Searcy , Van Buren , El Dorado , Blytheville , Harrison , Dumas , Rison , Warren , and Mountain Home . The United States Census Bureau estimated that

9888-809: The war ended. Today, the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway metropolitan area is the largest in the state, with a population of 724,385 in 2013. The Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area is the second-largest metropolitan area in Arkansas, growing at the fastest rate due to the influx of businesses and the growth of the University of Arkansas and Walmart . The state has eight cities with populations above 50,000 (based on 2010 census). In descending order of size, they are Little Rock , Fort Smith , Fayetteville , Springdale , Jonesboro , North Little Rock , Conway , and Rogers . Of these, only Fort Smith and Jonesboro are outside

9991-502: Was Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1541, who crossed the Mississippi and marched across central Arkansas and the Ozark Mountains. After finding nothing he considered of value and encountering native resistance the entire way, he and his men returned to the Mississippi River where de Soto fell ill. From his deathbed he ordered his men to massacre all the men of the nearby village of Anilco, who he feared had been plotting with

10094-624: Was built in 1991 at a cost of $ 25.9 million around the site of the destroyed levee. The diversion was designed and constructed with five 15 feet gates, allowing up to 8000 cfs of river diversion to gravity flow into a conveyance canal. The canal runs to the Big Mar pond but also drains into Bayou Mandeville, Lake Lery, and the Delacroix Canal, which then flows into Oak River, and has created the Caernarvon Delta. The success of

10197-549: Was called the Elaine massacre . White mobs spread throughout the county, killing an estimated 237 blacks before most of the violence was suppressed after October 1. Five whites also died in the incident. The governor accompanied the troops to the scene; President Woodrow Wilson had approved their use. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 flooded the areas along the Ouachita Rivers along with many other rivers. Based on

10300-512: Was charged with taming the Mississippi River. Under the Flood Control Act of 1928 , the world's longest system of levees was built. Floodways that diverted excessive flow from the Mississippi River were constructed. While the levees prevented some flooding, scientists have found that they changed the flow of the Mississippi River, with the unintended consequence of increasing flooding in succeeding decades. Channeling of waters has reduced

10403-500: Was established by the federal government in 1879, with the directive to deepen the river channel, improve navigation, prevent major flooding, and increase river-based commerce. This commission recommended raising extensive levees along its channels to contain the flow, dismissing the advice of experts such as James Eads , who had directed the Saint Louis Bridge project in the 1860s. These critics predicted that compressing

10506-442: Was one-third of the federal budget in 1927. If the event were to have occurred in 2023, the damages would total around $ 1.38 trillion to $ 1.48 trillion. The flood affected Missouri , Illinois , Kansas , Tennessee , Kentucky , Arkansas , Louisiana , Mississippi , Oklahoma , and Texas . Arkansas was hardest hit, with 14% of its territory covered by floodwaters extending from the Mississippi and Arkansas deltas. By May 1927,

10609-496: Was procured at the SE edge of Clinton, Mississippi , and a 200-acre hydraulic model was constructed, matching to the river's flow from Baton Rouge to Omaha , modeling the confluence points of its major tributaries across 16 states. The work was completed during 1942, with some labor provided by POWs from Camp Clinton . The Corps used this model to accurately study river flows and mitigation strategies, but by 1970 it fell out of use. In

#149850