Arkansas The name comes from the Indian language, living on the territory of Arkansas at the time of arrival of European settlers.

 

The word "Arkansas" came into English from the French "Arcansas". In turn, the French, the land on which the first settlements Arkansas, borrowed from ALCO Indian language (Kvapil), the word "akakaze", which means "land of the people living down by the river."

 

According to another version, Arkansas name comes from the word "Akakaze" ( "people of the south wind") Sioux language.

 

From the same root as the name of the Arkansas River and the place names of Kansas. In Arkansas, before the arrival of Europeans, the Cherokee tribes lived, Osage, Caddo, ALCO, Choctaw. The first Europeans explored the Arkansas in the XVI century, the Spaniard Hernando de Soto. expedition headed by him took place in 1539-40 years on the territory of modern Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi, and in 1541 - the lands of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas. De Soto announced studied them land the Spanish possessions.

 

In 1686 the French under the leadership of Henri de Tonti first settlement of Europeans was founded in Arkansas, not far from the strategically important points - the confluence of the rivers Arkansas and Mississippi - Arkansas Post.

 

In 1722, the French trading post was established, which later became the capital and the largest city of Arkansas - Little Rock. Spain and France have challenged each other's right for the American lands, including the Arkansas, and in fact the Indians and the Europeans there were only a few traders and hunters lived here.

 

In 1803, the United States bought from France of its American colonies. Earth Arkansas joined the newly formed territory of Louisiana, and later - the territory of Missouri. In 1819 it was created the territory of Arkansas, in 1836, Arkansas became the twenty-fifth US state.