Arkansas and the Louisiana Purchase - How Arkansas Pioneers Became Americans
At this permanent exhibit at the Old State House, you can learn about the history of Arkansas in the Louisiana Purchase. Find out how early Arkansas pioneers became Americans as a result of this deed between France and the United States.
In 1803, the United States negotiated one of the largest real estate deals in history. For $15 million, France deeded 828,000 square miles to the fledgling republic, doubling its size. This new territory included what would become the state of Arkansas.
In celebration of the bicentennial anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, the Old State House Museum honored the event that made Arkansas American with not one, but two exhibits. The first featured the actual Louisiana Purchase Treaty, on loan for the month of May from the National Archives.
The museum also overhauled its popular Wilderness Gallery with new interpretive panels, a new video program, and an interactive computer kiosk. Its setting depicts an Arkansas swamp as it might have appeared early in the 19th century at the dawn of the American era. The Louisiana Purchase Treaty may have come and gone, but its lasting significance to Arkansas and America continues to be celebrated in the permanent exhibits of the Old State House Museum's Wilderness Gallery.
Also learn about Arkansas during the Great Depression at the exhibit titled Hard Times: Arkansas Depression Era Photos.
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Take an online tour of the Arkansas wilderness at the time of the Louisiana Purchase. »
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