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Ozark
Storm Clouds (Courtesy of Chris Haven)
Please help us
locate two items that were illegally removed from the
historic Rodney, Mississippi Cemetery. Click
Here for Details.
Arkansas became a US
possession as a result of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
Prior to that time, Native Americans heavily populated
the area. In 1812, it was made part of the Missouri territory,
later in 1819, Arkansas was named as a territory unto
itself. On June 15, 1836, it became the twenty-fifth state
of the Union.
Arkansas
is bordered on the south by Louisiana with its southwestern corner bordering on
Texas. To its west is Oklahoma and to the north is Missouri. Mississippi and Tennessee
border its eastern extremities. If
you're an outdoorsman, upon entering Arkansas, congratulate yourself because you
have found one of the best states in the Union for almost any outdoor activity
you are seeking. Hiking, biking, camping, whitewater rafting, kayaking, hunting
and fishing are all activities that can be found in abundance in Arkansas Cossatot
River Whitewater Rafting - Before
attempting to paddle the Cossatot River, read
the warnings here. As the old folks used to say, "This is the
big dog's chew bone, you pups just stay on the porch!" ARKANSAS
FACTS: The Arkansas River
flows 1450 miles before joining the Mississippi-Missouri River System. The
Magic Springs and Crystal Falls Amusement
Park in Hot Springs boasts a roller coaster, the X-Rocket,
that will take you 150 feet into the air, turn you upside down and then send you
spiraling groundward at over 65 miles per hour! This is the tallest upside-down
inversion roller coaster in the world. Eureka
Springs' largest free-standing rock formation has a base of about 10 inches
wide, supporting a top of almost 10 feet wide! General
Douglas MacArthur was born in Little Rock in 1880. Ranaga
Farbiarz built the world's
largest tuned wind chime. Its longest tube measures 20 feet and it may
be seen at Celestial Windz Harmonic Bazaar in Eureka Springs. Howard
"Rip" Collins caught a forty-pound-four ounce brown trout in the
Little River near Heber Springs in 1992. This was a world record. The
single most destructive shot of the Civil War was fired on the White River, near
St. Charles, on June 17, 1862. The cannonball struck the steam drum of
the Union gunboat, Mound
City, killing or injuring 150 Union troops. Wesley
White of Hartford, Arkansas landed an 80-pound flathead catfish on
the Arkansas River in October 1989. It was a state record for the largest catfish
caught with a rod and reel. John
Patterson of Marianna, Arkansas was the first known Anglo child born
west of the Mississippi in 1790. The
White River Monster is still seen from time to time near Newport.
The world's first cowboy
movie star, Broncho
Billy Anderson, was born in Little Rock in
1882.
DeQueen's
newspaper is called the DeQueen Bee! Native
born Texan, Frances Octavia Smith grew up in Osceola, Arkansas.
She later changed her name to Dale
Evans.
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