Arkansas Post National Memorial

Arkansas Post, founded in 1686 by Henri de Tonti as a trading post among the Quapaw, was the first European settlement on the lower Mississippi River. It served French, Spanish, and American flags, was Arkansas's first territorial capital, and saw a Civil War battle in 1863 when Union gunboats attacked Fort Hindman.

Explore the museum and walk the wayside trails through the old town sites and bayou landscape. For a challenge, take on the full grounds on foot, tracing both historic town locations and the landscape that made the post strategically valuable for two centuries.