Arkansas Post Montgomery's Tavern & Johnston and Armstrong's Store Historic Structure Report/Historical Data

A. A Visit to the Post in 1900

1. The Correspondent Meets Madame Forreste

In December 1900 a correspondent for the Arkansas Gazette wrote of his visit to Arkansas Post. Stopping to chat with Madame Madeline Forreste, he was introduced toMrs. Thomas Farrelly, a widow. Her late husband had been a nephew of Terence Farrelly. The correspondent listened attentively as the two ladies discussed long-dead residents of the area--the Notrebes, father, wife, sons, and daughter; the Desruisseau, one of whose daughters married James H. Lucus; the Bogys; the Barraques; the Bonnes; the Imbeaus; the Vaugines; and the Stillwells.

When the reporter asked what had happened to these families, members of whom were residing at Arkansas Post before the organization of the Territory, Madame Forreste exclaimed, they are all gone, like the town "gone in the river." Madame Forreste explained that she and the Widow Farrelly were probably the only inhabitants of Arkansas County alive who had been living in the region in 1819.[1]

2. The Correspondent Reconnoiters the Post

a. Erosion

On November 20 the correspondent explored the site of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Post. He found much of the presumed site of the village had eroded into the Arkansas. "There was not a single house standing, and no ruins of any proportions. Not a vestige of the French or Spanish town as seen by Notrebe, Phillips, and Harold and Joe Stillwell of the older days." Nor were there any structures dating to the territorial period.[2]

In the 81 years that had passed since 1819 when William Woodruff established the Arkansas Gazette at the Post, he wrote, "the caving river bank ...has carried the river over and past the original town site for a distance of more than a mile."[3]

It is apparent from this statement that the correspondent was not familiar with the location of the village in the last years of the eighteenth and the early years of the nineteenth century. An examination of the Arkansas County Deed Books demonstrates that the Arkansas River, as its channel moved northward, claimed much of the ground on which the Towns of Rome and Arkansas were platted, but very little of the acreage on which the village of Arkansas Post was located. The Towns of Rome and Arkansas were platted in the period when Arkansas Post was the territorial capital. As the capital was moved to Little Rock in 1821, these towns never developed and were speculative in nature. Most of the lots had no improvements, and after the territorial government was moved, they were bought and sold for taxes.

Not being acquainted with information found in the Arkansas County Deed Books, the correspondent informed his readers, about 20 acres, more or less, of the village site

is still unencroached upon by the river. The trend of the caving bank being to the east and north, what remains is rendered bare and worthless by the washing of storm water which has cut it into gullies, ridges, and flats, which resemble the desolate Colorado Canyon country in miniature.

When he searched for the Civil War earthworks, he found the northwest corner of the bastioned work defended by the Confederates in January 1863. This was located about one-fourth mile northeast of the site of the village. The rest of the fort had caved into the river. In the woods and fields west of the fort, he was able to trace the line of rifle-pits held by the Confederates on January 11, 1863.[4]

The village cemetery, he was told by Madame Forreste, had "long since gone into the river, and the remains of the old French and Spanish settlers have been washed down by the current of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers." He was told that the bodies of United States soldiers killed in the battle of Post of Arkansas had been removed to the National
Cemetery at Little Rock in the late 1860s. He visited the Confederate graves and found them "almost obliterated by time."[5]

b. Ruins

Southeast of the eroded area on the point, the correspondent saw the ruins of the Arkansas State Bank, which had "stood as late as 1863, several blocks north of the steamboat landing." Here he found a few wheelbarrow loads of brickbats. Local inhabitants told the newspaperman that in January 1863 Union gunboats had shelled the village. As the bank was the most conspicuous landmark, the bluejackets had concentrated on it and knocked it "hither and yon!" In the period between January 11 when the Confederates surrendered and the 16th when Union forces evacuated the area, the Yankees, he was told, had "destroyed by fire, wantonly, many homes of respectable appearance in the town and country adjacent for a distance of several miles."[6]

c. The 1900 Village

In 1900 the village, which had a population of more than 100, was north of the historic site. There were two stores, with Henry Jones' giving a prosperous appearance and -having well-stocked shelves. The adjacent country side on the Grand Prairie was fertile and good crops were grown. If the caving bank of the Arkansas could be stabilized and a good landing constructed, the correspondent believed, Arkansas Post could be revived.[7]

B. Fletcher Chenault's 1926 Visit

1. He Explores the Area

a. The Site of the Arkansas State Bank

Twenty-six years later, in the autumn of 1926, Fletcher Chenault motored down from Little Rock to Arkansas Post. Impressed with the significance of the area and distressed by what he saw, Chenault authored a feature story which appeared in the November 11 edition of the Arkansas Gazette. He informed his readers that while Arkansas Post still existed, the Post of "today is a modern settlement near the old fort and in no wise related to it." As he strolled about the area, he found, among the briers and old fields "mounds of broken and scattered brick." These, his guide informed him, marked the sites of the first territorial capitol and the Arkansas State Bank. These were the only sites that could be identified, and they, too, Chenault wrote, "will disappear unless the ruins are marked."[8]

b. Notrebe's Cistern and Well

Nearby Chenault found a cistern walled with brick, while not far off was a deep well also lined with brick.

Efforts to memorialize the site were limited to the erection of a stone tablet by the Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce, near the site of the first territorial capitol.[9]

c. The Confederate Rifle-Pits

When he called on L. S. Jones, the Indiana native and Republican who had been postmaster at the Post for 29 years, Chenault was disappointed to learn that Jones had arranged to level part of the Rebel rifle-pits to enlarge his garden. To accomplish this task, Jones had hired an old black, who prior to emancipation had been a slave on Col. James H. Moore's plantation. As the black attacked the breastworks with a spade, he exclaimed, "I neveah figgered when I holp put up ‘ese breasworks I'd tear 'em down again to mek a gard'n for a Yankee"[10]

C. The Establishment of Arkansas Post State Park

1. Chenault Makes a Proposal

Zeroing on the problem of preservation of the area, Chenault informed his readers that for more than 100 years the United States government had held title to a l47-acre reservation at the village site. Since the 1819 survey much of the reservation had eroded into the river, but in the years following 1900 the Arkansas had shifted its course to the south, and its former channel was now grown up in cottonwoods and briars and was subject to flooding during periods of high water. A triangular tract of high ground remained, and as this was the site of the bank and capitol, Chenault suggested that it be deeded to the state as a park.[11]

2. The Legislature Acts

Representative Ballard Deane of Arkansas County was one of those who read Chenault's article in the Gazette, and he determined to take action. In 1929 Deane introduced a bill into the Arkansas General Assembly to create an Arkansas Post State Park Commission. The 12-member Commission would be authorized to "accept lands, money or other things of value" to be held in the name of the Arkansas Post State Park Commission. The Commission would be authorized to spend such money as "may come into its hands for the building, rebuilding, maintenance, repair, labor, tools and materials toward the end that this Park may reflect credit on the State of Arkansas." Members of the Commission were to receive no salary or any financial return for services rendered.

The purpose of the park was declared to be the preservation and beautification of this "historic spot for future generations, thereby promoting health and pleasure, providing a recreation place, resort and play ground for the people" of Arkansas and to attract visitors and tourists to the State.

The legislation was enacted by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Harvey Parnell on February 27, 1929.[12]

3. The First Meeting of the Commission

a. The Post of Arkansas Reservation

Members of the Commission having been appointed, it held its first meeting on February 11, 1930, in the office of the Arkansas History Commission. Eight members were in attendance, in addition to Representative Deane and F. M. Quertermous, Arkansas County Surveyor. When the session was called to order, J. W. Burnett of DeWitt was elected president and Dallas T. Herndon of Little Rock secretary.[13]

The first item taken up was the question of perfecting title to the site. United StatesRepresentative D. D. Glover had been contacted to see if he could determine ownership of the 147 acres at the Post, which it was reported had been confirmed by the United States as the site for Post of Arkansas. If title to this acreage was still vested in theUnited States, the Commission would petition the government for a donation of the subject acreage as a site for a public park. Members were told that F. J. Quandt claimed part of the subject acreage, and was willing to deed his claim of 40 acres to the
Commission, as soon as it was organized and was ready to receive such a gift.

A committee was named by Chairman Burnett to pursue the matter.[14]

Representative Glover on contacting the Department of the Interior learned that on June 13, 1812, Congress had enacted legislation, providing that

the rights, titles and claims, to town or village lots, outlots, common-field lots and commons in, adjoining and belonging to the several towns or villages of ... Arkansas, ...which lots have been inhabited, cultivated, or possessed, prior to the twentieth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and three, shall be and the same are hereby confirmed to the inhabitants of the respective towns or villages aforesaid, according to their several right or rights in common thereto. And it shall be the duty of the principal deputy surveyor for the saidTerritory as soon as may be, to survey, or cause to be surveyed and marked ...the out boundary lines of the said several towns or villages so as to include the out-lots, common-field lots and commons, thereto respectively belonging.[15]

Section 2 of the Act of June 13, 1812, reserved for the support of schools "all town or village lots, out-lots, or common-field lots, included in such surveys, which are not rightfully owned or claimed by any private individuals, or held as commons," provided the land so reserved did not exceed one-twentieth part of the whole lands included in the general survey.[16]

Congress on May 26, 1824, enacted additional legislation bearing on the subject. It was provided that individual owners or claimants "whose claims were confirmed by the Act of June 13, 1812, were to furnish within 18 months proof of their claims before the recorder of land titles so as to enable the Surveyor-General to distinguish the private from the vacant lots." Moreover, it was enacted that after the expiration of the allotted 18 months, the Surveyor-General "should survey, designate or set apart to the towns or villages, for the support of schools," the vacant lots, out-lots, and common-field lots not to exceed more than "one-twentieth part of the whole lands included in the general survey."[17]

An examination of the pertinent records by Interior Department personnel indicated that neither Congress, officials of the General Land Office, nor the landowners had taken any action toward the "settlement of the claims to the land in question." But by the Act ofJanuary 27, 1831, "the United States relinquished all title to all the lands within the exterior limits of all the ten other towns and villages," enumerated with Arkansas Post in the Act of June 13, 1812.[18]

Inasmuch as no action had been taken toward segregation of the lots which had been confirmed by the Act of June 13, 1812, from the vacant lots and lots reserved for the support of schools, Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur held that title to theReservation or any "particular part thereof cannot be determined until evidence is furnished to show what lands had been inhabited, cultivated or possessed prior to December 20, 1803."[19]

There were no plats showing property lines inside the Reservation, so no one was prepared to challenge the claim Fred Quandt had established in 1927 to the 140-acre Post of Arkansas Reservation. Quandt accordingly on June 17, 1930, donated to the Arkansas Post Park Commission, for one dollar, 20 acres at the northwest corner of the Reservation.[20]

To celebrate transfer of the 20 acres, a program featuring an "old-fashioned picnic" was held under the great oaks at the park entrance on June 17. More than 500 were in attendance and applauded as Mr. and Mrs. Fred Quandt presented the deed to the 20-acre tract to President Burnett.[21] After listening to a number of speeches, patriotic songs, and eating, members of the Commission in attendance walked across "the clovered field of the old settlement past memorials placed by the Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce and Daughters of 1812." The former had been positioned in memory of the first settlers and to commemorate the Civil War battle and the latter to honor Arkansas' 93d anniversary of statehood.

As the visitors "peered through a great variety of trees, shrubs and vines which form a background to [these] memorials," they saw the "old cistern." They then watched as Surveyor Quertermous marked the lines of the Quandt donation, and presented members of the Commission with the map of Arkansas Post in 1829, which he had compiled.[22]

D. Park Development, 1931

1. Money is Voted and Plans Made

a. The Commission Secures the Services of a Landscape Architect

The Act creating the Arkansas Post Park Commission had not carried an appropriation. Expectations that the Commission would be able to develop the area with donated funds were quickly dashed, when fund-raising projects foundered. Organizations and individuals were unwilling to contribute money until land was acquired and a master plan for development prepared.

By December 1930 the Quandt tract had been accepted by the Commission, and President Burnett contacted P. C. Howson, a Pine Bluff landscape architect. On December 29 Burnett, Howson, and Quertermous visited the site and located boundary lines of the Quandt donation. Burnett asked Howson to prepare a site plan and estimates for development of the area for presentation to the Commission at the January 10, 1931, meeting to be held in Little Rock. As the Commission had no funds, Howson's work would have to be gratis until an appropriation was secured. Howson was agreeable.[23]

b. The Arkansas General Assembly appropriates $5,000

At the meeting of the commissioners at Mrs. J. F. Weinman's home in Little Rock, on January 10, Howson submitted his plans and estimates. Ways and means of financing the project were discussed, and it was agreed to have Representative Ballard Deane introduced legislation calling for an appropriation of $5,000 to beautify Arkansas Post State Park. Deane, the father of the Park, was agreeable.

On Friday, February 20, 1931, the Arkansas Senate voted favorably on Representative Deane's bill, previously passed by the House, appropriating $5,000 for development of Arkansas Post State Park. Even before Governor Parnell signed Dean's bill into law, work was commenced on the park, in the first week of March, when 35 men who had been receiving relief from the Red Cross at Gillett and DeWitt reported to Chairman Burnett. Working under direction of Landscape Architect Howson, the men were turned to clearing the Quandt tract of underbrush and old fences. Care was exercised to insure that no native shrubs or trees were disturbed.[24]

c. Mrs. Lowe Makes an Announcement

When contacted by the press, Mrs. W. W. Lowe of Gillett, a member of the Commission, stated that one of the first improvements scheduled would be construction of a custodian's lodge of "native timbers of rugged type." She also reported that the United Daughters of the Confederacy planned to erect a memorial in the park to honor Confederate soldiers who fought at Arkansas Post in January 1863, while the Commission planned a "gradual improvement program, including driveways, lawns, markers, and memorials." The county court would be urged to improve the road connecting Gillett with the Park.[25]

2. The April 7, 1931, Meeting of the Commission

On April 7 the Commission met in Little Rock and made a number of important development decisions, which it hoped would transform Arkansas Post within a few years into a "mecca" for tourists from all parts of the nation. A committee of five Commission members, all residents of Arkansas County, was designated a Building Committee and would be in charge of this activity.[26]

County Surveyor Quertermous reported that he had completed his survey of the Quandt tract, and there were a number of jagged lines cutting into the state land. It was determined by the Commission to make an effort to "acquire land by gift or purchase to straighten out the lines and make the park a triangle, with the old river as the base." To do this, it was agreed to allocate $150 to purchase not more than 15 acres at a price not to exceed $10 per acre.[27]

Landscape Architect Howson told the Commission of his proposal for an oval driveway, within which would be positioned historical markers locating the first territorial capitol, the Bank of Arkansas, and the site where Woodruff published the first edition of the Arkansas Gazette. Outside the oval, De Tonty's post was to be restored--with a log palisade enclosing log cabins sheltering the caretaker's house, etc. Provision would also be made for picnic grounds. An effort would be made to acquire the Scull Cemetery one mile north of the Post, in which Henry Conway was presumed to be buried. The cemetery would be "improved and the graves" landscaped.[28]

3. The April 15 and 29 Meetings of the Building Committee

At the April 15 meeting of the Building Committee, held in DeWitt, Landscape Architect Howson signed his contract to supervise construction at the site, and was authorized to commence work as soon as practicable. Bids for fencing materials having been authorized, the contract on April 29 was awarded to the low bidder, Central Hardware of Gillett.[29]

4. Construction in 1931

During the period from May 11, 1931, when work was begun until October 31, 1931, when Landscape Architect Howson, the $5,000 appropriation exhausted, discontinued work and laid off his crew, a number of projects were undertaken and completed.

a. Land Acquisition

The Commission purchased from Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Place of Gillett a 11.25-acre tract, while L. C. Jones of Arkansas Post donated 9.75 acres. With the Place and Jones tracts, the area of the Park was increased to about 40 acres. On the Jones tract was a majestic grove of oaks.[30]

b. Fencing

Howson, after clearing a right-of-way, enclosed the Park with a fence. Steel posts, set in concrete, were erected, and a 48-inch woven wire fence with two strands of barbed wire on top, strung.(31)

c. Caretaker's Lodge

By the last week of June, the Commission reported that considerable progress had been made on the caretaker's lodge. The structure, which consisted of two 18 x 18-foot rooms, a 12 x 18-foot breeze way, and two 12 x 18-foot porches, was constructed of logs salvaged from the Refeld-Hindman House. Workmen had to hew a number of logs to replace those that had rotted. The structure was roofed with cypress shingles, chinked, and daubed. Floors were laid, doors, windows, and ceiling put in, and chimneys built. In September a crew was turned to whitewashing the lodge, inside and out, oiling the porch floors, and painting the window sashes, doors, and casing.

The relocation and restoration of the Refeld-Hindman House struck a responsive chord with the community, as the lodge was representative of buildings which "formed so important a part in the history of the region." It was the Commission's desire to preserve "a historical memorial the style of architecture that these buildings represented to be suggestive also of the romance of the early history of the state."[32]

d. Pot Hunting and Salvage at the Arkansas State Bank

Workmen partially excavated the site of the Arkansas State Bank, where they uncovered a number of objects to be placed in the Park museum. A number of the best bricks salvaged were cleaned and earmarked for use in building two pillars at the north entrance to the Park. Others were utilized in construction of walkways and an outdoor oven.[33]

e. Restoration of Cistern and Well

In July 1931 a brick mason was put to work restoring the historic cistern and well. Brickbats salvaged from the Arkansas State Bank were used. Shed-like shelters were erected to protect these historic structures from the elements.[34]

f. Picnic Facilities

Construction of camping facilities progressed rapidly. Seven concrete tables were poured; a well drilled; a pump installed; a concrete well platform laid; and a rustic bridge and restrooms built. The Business Men's League of Gillett donated 25 benches to the Park. Two outdoor ovens for campers were constructed.[35]

g. Dam and Pond

In July, Howson put a crew to work removing trees and stumps from the ravines that criss-crossed the Park between the site of the Arkansas State Bank and the Caretaker's Lodge. A survey showed that 1,649 cubic yards of earth were needed to dam the gully into which the ravines drained. The dam and concrete spillway were completed in August and sodded with Bermuda. When filled, the pond, which was stocked with game fish, covered seven acres. Peninsulas extending out into the pond were landscaped.[36]

h. The "Lady of the Lake"

The statue of justice which had formerly stood atop the cupola of the Arkansas County Courthouse in DeWitt was positioned on a concrete base, near the northeastern edge of the pond. At the same time, the memorial stone was set.[37]

i. Roads

Howson in July surveyed and staked out the road system to be established in the Park, and in August they were rough graded. Cedar pilings were put in across the dam spillway to be bridged by the road. Next a concrete curb was staked, located, and poured around the "historical circle."[38]

j. Plantings

The Conservation Chairman had made arrangements with the state to secure many perennials to be set out under Landscape Architect Howson's direction in the autumn. With these he would be able to make the Park a "real floral treat." These would enhance the many "magnificent trees, vines, and shrubs" that had "lived uncared for all these years." In the period November 25-December 6, Howson and several helpers set out a number of evergreens, shrubs, and trees.[39]

k. County-Wide Community Sing

On Sunday, August 16, about 500 local people converged on the Park, for a county-wide community sing, sponsored by the Gillett Home Demonstration Club. The program was well arranged and "consisted of the state song, a group of three each of patriotic, sacred, southern, and popular songs." At 5 p.m. a basket supper was served.[40]

E. Plans for 1932

Although the $5,000 appropriated by the Arkansas General Assembly for development of the area had been spent, the Commission proposed a number of improvements for 1932. Among these were: (a) acquisition of eight additional acres on the southwest side of the Park; (b) a United Daughters of the Confederacy Memorial Circle; (c) a Memorial Garden to honor Arkansas authors and composers; (d) get the State Highway Department to grade and gravel the road from Highway #1 to the Park entrance; (e) secure state funds for the reconstruction of the Tonty fort; (f) secure through the French ambassador a monument to Tonty; (g) to memorialize early residents of the area with markers to be erected around the "historical circle"; (h) regrade and gravel the park roads; (i) to secure funds from the owners of the Arkansas Gazette to reconstruct the first home of the Gazette and to equip it with a period press; and (k) secure a Federal appropriation to commemorate the Revolutionary and Civil War battles at Arkansas Post.[41]

With the nation in the depths of a world-wide depression, the Commission was unable to get additional funds from the State for development of Arkansas Post State Park. Efforts by the Arkansas County Women's Clubs to raise funds fell far short of their goals. United States Representative Glover also failed the Commission. On January 6, 1932, at the request of the Commission, he introduced H.R. 7113, authorizing the "erection of a marker suitably marking" the sites of the battles of Arkansas Post. Glover's bill directed the Secretary of War to "cause to be erected" in the state park at the Post "a suitable marker... at a cost not to exceed $5,000."

H.R. 7113 was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs, where it was pigeon-holed.[42]

F. The State Park Board Takes Charge

Donated money was not sufficient to fund any new development at the Park. Efforts to get the owners of the Arkansas Gazette to reconstruct Woodruff's print shop and France to erect a memorial to Tonty likewise failed. By 1934 members of the Commission were ready to give up. On July 19 the group met in Little Rock to discuss the bleak financial situation. President Burnett announced that the purpose of the meeting was to decide whether to petition "the State Park Board to take over control of and to maintain" the Park. The Commission, he reminded the members, was without funds, and the only hope was the State Park Commission.

If the State Park Commission had administrative responsibility for the area, it might be possible to secure Federal money for improvements. After some discussion, it was agreed to petition the Board to assume control under terms and provisions of Section 8 of Act 57 of the acts of the Arkansas General Assembly for 1929.[43]

At its regular meeting, the Arkansas State Park Board on January 23, 1935, took up the petition and voted to assume responsibility for Arkansas Post State park.[44]

In 1935 a detachment from the Civilian Conservation Corps was employed in the area by the State Park Board and effected a number of improvements. Among these were improvements in the existing picnic grounds, and the addition of camp sites, foot trails, a golf course, tennis courts, and baseball diamonds. The cost of these improvements was placed at $5,000.[45]

G. Halliburton's 1939 Visit to the Park

1. The Visitor Center

In January 1939 W. H. Halliburton visited Arkansas Post State Park. The last eight miles of the road leading southward from DeWitt to the Park were gravel. As he motored through the village, he saw that the houses and outbuildings were aged and needed a coat of paint. At the entrance to the Park, he drove past two brick pillars and parked in front of the caretaker's lodge, built of squared cypress logs. Its roof was hand-riven cypress shingles. Within the building was a museum, housing artifacts "common to pioneer housekeeping, hunting, and farming, along with battlefield relics. One of the more interesting objects was the rusted iron door from the vault of the Arkansas State Bank."[46]

2. The Lady of the Lake

The pond, he found, was irregularly-shaped, with "here and there a peninsula jutting toward the middle, many with enjoyable trees." On the opposite side of the lake from the diving tower, was a statue of a woman in classic Greek garb, positioned on a stone base. One hand was uplifted, as in benediction. She was referred to by local residents as the "Lady of the Lake." The figure once known as the statue of justice, had originally been positioned on the cupola of the Arkansas County Courthouse at DeWitt, which was razed in 1931.[47]

H. Archeology at Arkansas Post in 1966 and 1968

In 1960 Arkansas Post was established by Congress as a National Memorial. With the objective of locating building sites from the main period of American occupation, 1804-63, Rex L. Wilson, National Park Service archeologist, conducted a series of limited archeological tests at Arkansas Post National Memorial in 1966. Four structures of this period were located. Wilson tentatively identified these as: (l) Frederic Notrebe's Cotton Gin, (2) Frederic Notrebe's Residence and Store, (3) Frederic Notrebe's Warehouse, and (4) the Arkansas Post branch of the Bank of the State of Arkansas. However, later research indicates that only the latter was correctly identified, although the other three were, as Wilson suggested, the property of Notrebe.

In 1968, John W. Walker, also a National Park Service archeologist, completed excavation of the Bank, a 30'8" by 60'8" structure, which was built of brick with cut stone trim and roofed with metal shingles. His excavation recovered artifactual evidence, which, in combination with historical information, indicates that the building was used as a hospital by the Confederate Army in 1862-63 and that it was destroyed by Union artillery during the battle which occurred at the Post of Arkansas on January 11, 1863.[48]