"Old Al's Going To Get It," At Least For A While: Recent Riverine Archaeology in Arkansas

Summary

To understand Arkansas history, it is constructive to study the use of the extensive network of navigable waterways in and near the State. In the last 30 years, archaeologists have documented recovered Native American canoes, as well as researched vessels employed from the Trail of Tears in the 1830s to the end of the Wooden Age in the 1930s. A major step was at West Memphis on the Mississippi in 1988, when record low water permitted professionals and amateurs to use dry-land field techniques to documents model barges, a coal barge, and a stern wheel steamboat. Particular success has been achieved during recent underwater surveys and bank line exposures of side wheelers and other wrecks, including a flat boat, on the Arkansas, Ouachita, and White Rivers. These projects provide tangible evidence of the working rivers before the coming of the massively powerful towboats, and bass boats, of today.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• In Black Water And In Bright Sunshine: Three Decades of Riverine Archaeology In Inland Waterways

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 46