Toward an Archaeology of French Settlement in the Arkansas River Valley: Chasing the Arkansas Post in the Documentary and Archaeological Records.

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Comparative Perspectives on European Colonization in the Americas: Papers in Honor of Réginald Auger" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 1686, while in an attempt to rendezvous with René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, Henri de Tonti established the "Poste de Arkansea" at the Quapaw village of Osotouy. Garrisoned by a handful of adventurers, the Arkansas Post was the first ‘semi-permanent’ French settlement in the lower Mississippi River Valley. Over the course of the next century, the Post was relocated several times along the Arkansas River Delta. Over the past century, numerous archaeological excavations with the goal of locating the multiple manifestations of the Arkansas Post have taken place. This paper examines the current state of the archaeology of French colonization in the Arkansas River Delta, as well as outlining avenues for future research. This is a research topic the author would not have been able to undertake without the early career tutelage of the session honoree, Dr. Reginald Auger.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020   •
• Comparative Perspectives on European Colonization in the Americas: Papers in Honor of Réginald Auger

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 532