Arkansas Post National Memorial and the Mighty Mississippi River

After leaving Central High School, we traveled southeast to Arkansas Post National Historic Site in Gillett, Arkansas along a bend in the Arkansas River.  I was thinking this was going to be an old Post Office or something and was pleasantly surprised to learn it was an old trading post...one of the oldest in the country dating back to 1682 with the French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier.  Countries were out to carve up as much of the "New World" as possible, and this location was a important post in this venture as trade between Mississippi River trade between New France and the Gulf of Mexico.  The area had been occupied by the French and Spanish, part of the Louisiana purchase, a post for trappers, traders and Indian trading, part of the Civil War and the town died due to Civil War shelling and never recovered.  I can see that since the post is located in a horseshoe curve in the river and during the Civil War, with boats on the river along with infantry and calvary, they stood no chance of survival there and along with the building of the railroad and the decline of ship travel down the rivers.  There was just so much old history, I was amazed!

And, this was also part of the Trail of Tears.  Here's the map of this historic journey.

The Visitor's Center is easy to access however the last turn in an RV is a little tight and you will probably go up over a curb to get out.  There is RV parking along the right as you enter the park.  The V.C. offers a wonderful 20 minutes video presentation about the history of the post, a nice gift shop and a small but historical exhibit area.  The park ranger there had a wealth of info to share.  I have to say it was hotter than heck there and bugs crawling all over the place.  The ranger also said there are alligators in the water and to be careful!

There are also beautiful views of the Arkansas River making it a peaceful place to be.  I could imagine Indians coming to the post in their long canoes, trappers on horseback through the trees and soldiers with cannons, rifles and horses as time progressed through this place.

It was so hot the dogs could only stand to be out of the truck for about 10 minutes before the heat got to them.  They must really be "northern dogs" because they can't tolerate any of this heat.

When we left, we soon crossed the Mighty Mississippi and set our sights for Tupelo.  It was a long drive for us today - about 8 hours and two stops along the way.  We were planning on stopping earlier, but felt we needed to get to Tupelo and so that's what we did.