In the late 19th century, Pine Bluff’s proximity to the Arkansas River made it an early port city and cotton center, rich with steamboats filled with early travelers and mountains of cotton bales.
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Pine Bluff is Arkansas' tenth-largest city and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is located in the southeast section of the Arkansas Delta. Pine Bluff has numerous creeks, streams, and bayous, including Bayou Bartholomew, the longest bayou and the second most ecologically diverse stream in the United States. Pine Bluff boasts many large bodies of water which include Saracen Lake, Lake Langhofer (Slack Water Harbor), and the historic Arkansas River.
On June 18, 1541, Hernando de Soto and his expedition crossed the Mississippi River, becoming the first Europeans to explore the land that now constitutes the state of Arkansas. In 1673, Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet met the Quapaw Indians at the mouth of the Arkansas River. When Father Marquette asked his Iroquois guide the name of the Indians, the guide said “Arkansa.” From this simple yet profound exchange the state was named Arkansas. In 1686, Henri de Tonti established a small port at the mouth of the Arkansas River named Arkansas Post. From this humble beginning the state began to grow as more French and Spanish settlers arrived.
In 1803, America purchased most of the Midwest from France during the Louisiana Purchase. This transaction included the state of Arkansas.
On August 21, 1818, Joseph Bonne, the child of a French settler and Quapaw woman, was an interpreter for the U.S. government at the signing of the Quapaw Cession at St. Louis, Missouri. In 1819, a flood caused Bonne and his wife Mary Imbeau to move five miles upstream from their settlement at Bonne Reserve to the area that later became Pine Bluff. It was the first bluff above the river on the eastern border of South Arkansas’ coastal plains, covered in towering pine trees.
Bonne built his new home on this bluff, a log cabin with a lean-to, and a tavern with lodging accommodations for travelers. On October 16, 1832, the settlement was officially named “The Town of Pine Bluff” by the county court. On January 8, 1839, Pine Bluff was incorporated. At the time, the village had grown to include 50 residents. By the 1840s and 1850s, improved transportation had aided in Pine Bluff’s growth.
With Pine Bluff’s proximity to the Arkansas River, the small town soon grew into a port for travel and shipping. During this time Pine Bluff also thrived as a cotton center. Steamships were the primary mode of transportation as they arrived from New Orleans and other downriver ports.
The first county seat was at Bonne’s cabin as it became a fledgling cotton bale production center where steamboats could dock. In October 1839, the court authorized the construction of a brick courthouse that would become the city’s architectural centerpiece. The Arkansas River was a constant threat to the town, eating away the settlement’s land. In 1908, the Arkansas River was fewer than 100 yards from the courthouse.
A few yards from the Courthouse was Barraque's Bar, sometimes referred to as Barraque's Landing. While some steamship captains used Barraque Landing as a spot where they could moor their ships in good waters. Other steamships were forced to Barraque Landing by strong winds, low water, and unfortunate crashes into the sand bars, lurking just beneath the waters of the Arkansas River.
Pine Bluff is located along several historic trails, including the October 1863 Attack on Pine Bluff and the water route of the Trail of Tears. These passages, along with other historically significant routes, are now part of the Arkansas Heritage Trails system. From 1832 to 1838, residents of Pine Bluff saw Native American migrants on the Trail of Tears waterway being forcibly removed by the US Army from the American Southeast to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. From 1832 to 1858, Pine Bluff served as a station on the passage of Seminole and Black Seminoles, who were forcibly removed from Florida to the Indian Territory. In 1842, legendary Black Seminole leader John Horse was among those who arrived in the city via the steamboat Swan.
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Written by: Ninfa O. Barnard
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