In 1819, Missouri Applied for statehood J. Hardman Walker, a cattle rancher, who owned land in the boot heel of Missouri used his political influence to get it included with Missouri. On July 4, 1819 Arkansas Territory came into existence with Arkansas Post as its capital.

General James Miller Appointed by President Monroe James Miller was the first Governor of Arkansas Territory.

James Miller was a general in the U.S. army and a hero in the War of Miller was not very happy about his appointment. Millers wife and children remanded in New Hampshire and never joined him in Arkansas Territory.

Robert Crittenden Appointed by President Monroe as the first Secretary of the Arkansas Territory

Secretary of the Territory- Robert Crittenden, a 21 year old Kentuckian was appointed as the first Secretary of Arkansas Territory. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, a lawyer and a member of a leading Kentucky family. Crittenden arrived in Arkansas before Miller and took control.

Crittenden ordered an election in Arkansas in November, 1819 to create the first General Assembly. 1. created a 2 house legislature 2. Also elected James Woodson Bates to be Arkansas’ nonvoting delegate to Congress. This was the most powerful position in the territory.

William Woodruff

Arkansas Gazette First established the Arkansas Gazette at Arkansas Post. First edition of the weekly Arkansas Gazette appeared on November 20,1819.

When the capitol moved to Little Rock in 1821, so did the Gazette. December 1821, Woodruff moved to Little Rock. December 29, 1821 the first issue of the Gazette was printed in Little Rock.

Governors of Arkansas As governor, Miller was absent from Arkansas Territory about half of the time, leaving Robert Crittenden in charge. Miller was unhappy and wanted to be back east with his family. In 1824, Governor Miller finally resigned his position due to bad health.

President John Quincy Adams appointed George Izard as the new Governor of Arkansas Territory. Izard really wanted to be appointed as an ambassador and was unhappy with this appointment Izard, like Miller was frequently absent leaving Robert Crittenden in control.

The Family The “Family” was formed to oppose Robert Crittenden and his supporters. It consisted of members of the Conway, Johnson, Sevier, Rector and Ashley families who were interrelated through blood and marriage. This feud became apparent in the election of 1827 for Arkansas’ delegate to Congress.

Crittenden supported Robert Oden The Family supported Henry W. Conway They met across the Mississippi from the mouth of the White River and exchanged shots. Conway was wounded and bristles from his toothbrush were embedded in his body. Three days later he died. A special election was called for Congressional delegate and Ambrose Sevier, another member of the Family, was elected.

Henry Conway

In 1828, Governor George Izard died. President Andrew Jackson appointed John Pope as the new Governor. Pope had campaigned for Jackson even though Jackson’s opponent John Q. Adams was Pope’s brother-in-law.

Jackson dismissed Crittenden and replaced him with William S. Fulton as the new Secretary. Fulton had been one of Jackson’s aids in an early military campaign.

Newspapers The Arkansas Gazette supported the “Family” In 1829, the Charles Bertrand started a newspaper named The Arkansas Advocate. In 1835, the Arkansas Advocate was taken over by Albert Pike, who became the leader of the Whig party in Arkansas.

Travel gets easier The national government paid to build the first road in Arkansas. Military Road was to connect Little Rock and Memphis. And later on to continue to Fort Smith. A horse drawn coach could go only about three miles an hour.

The national government also began mail service. By the 1820’s most of the larger towns in Arkansas had mail every week or two. The steamboat- a big raft with a steam engine and one or tow paddlewheels. On the top of that was a cabin, which was one or even three decks high. The steamboat could float in very shallow water.

Steamboats Fast and comfortable Carry people and goods much cheaper than any other form of overland transport. * frequently blowing up * catching fire * running aground * hitting sawyers “snags”

In 1820 the Comet became the first steamboat to call at Arkansas Post, and two years later the Eagle made the first steamboat landing at Little Rock. Little Rock was as far as steamboats could go up the Arkansas River, except during the high water period in the spring.

The United States Indian policy was simple. Pressured by white settlers, the government would force a tribe of Indians to leave their homes to go new land, reserved for them.

Dwight Mission The Reverend Cephas Washburn and his wife Abbe Woodward ran a school and a hospital, as well as a church. They stayed for eight years, as long as the Cherokee remained in Arkansas.

The Trail of Tears In the 1830’s the national government decided to force all the “five civilized tribes” to Oklahoma. Over a period of several years, the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, and the Cherokee East tribes migrated to Oklahoma under the guidance of the U.S. Army.

BEGINNING OF PROGRESS In 1835 Governor Pope took the profit from the sale of ten sections of public land donated by Congress, and set out to build a big building to house all the functions of government. The architect for the building was Gordon Shyrock

Gordon Shyrock was selected to be the architect, and construction began in Shryrock chose the popular Greek Revival style, lining the front of the building with tall round columns.