Arkansas

D

Communications

The state’s first newspaper was the weekly Arkansas Gazette, established at Arkansas Post in 1819. In 1821 the newspaper was moved to Little Rock, where it became a daily in 1865. The state’s first daily was the Little Rock True Democrat. In 2002 there were 125 newspapers published in Arkansas, 29 of them dailies.

Arkansas’s first commercial radio station was established in Pine Bluff in 1920. Its first television station was established in Little Rock in 1953. In 2002 there were 62 AM and 91 FM radio stations and 16 television stations in the state.

E

Music

Little Rock has a symphony orchestra, a Bach society, and a choral society. Folk music still flourishes in the rural districts. During the spring and summer months, folk and blues music festivals are held in many counties.

VII

Recreation and Places of Interest

Arkansas offers excellent opportunities for recreation. The visitor to Arkansas may enjoy a backwoods vacation in some rustic Ozark retreat or sample the more sophisticated pleasures of a cosmopolitan spa. The trail of history leads to many interesting places: the site of Arkansas Post, where French explorer Henri de Tonty established a fort in 1686; Washington, where Sam Houston, Stephen Austin, and Davy Crockett are said to have met in a tavern to plan the independence of Texas; and the Civil War battlefield at Pea Ridge. Fall is the season for livestock shows, county fairs, and folk dance festivals. Duck hunters come for the shooting season, and fishing enthusiasts find excellent opportunities in many of Arkansas’s lakes and streams.

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A

National Parks

The National Park Service administers five national sites in Arkansas. The first European settlement in the lower Mississippi River Valley is commemorated at Arkansas Post National Memorial, in Gillette. The post’s construction by a lieutenant of French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was an opening move in a struggle between France, Spain, and England for control of the North American interior. Fort Smith National Historic Site at Fort Smith was one of the first U.S. military posts in the Louisiana Territory. From here government policy toward Native Americans was enforced. Pea Ridge National Military Park commemorates a victory by Union forces during the Civil War which led to control of the Missouri River by Northern forces. Hot Springs National Park contains 47 hot springs used for many years for therapeutic treatments. Buffalo National River, with headquarters in Harrison, is one of the few remaining free-flowing rivers in the lower 48 states. The river cuts through massive limestone bluffs on its course through the Ozark Mountains.

B

National Forests

There are three national forests in Arkansas, covering about 970,000 hectares (about 2.4 million acres) of land ranging from flatland, to rolling hills, to beautiful mountains. The largest is Ouachita National Forest, part of which lies in Oklahoma. It offers many attractions, including Lake Ouachita and historic Caddo Gap, where Hernando De Soto, the Spanish explorer who in the 1540s was the first European to explore the region, fought the Native Americans. Seven wilderness areas are preserved in the forest. Ozark National Forest is in four separate areas, three north of the Arkansas River and one south of it. It includes four national wildlife refuges, a number of state game and fish refuges, five wilderness areas, and many scenic drives. Saint Francis National Forest covers a small region in eastern Arkansas along the Saint Francis River.

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