Exploration

Sub-Topics
Antoine Barraque (1773–1858)
Antoine Barraque established the settlement called New Gascony, one of the earliest settlements in what is now...
Jean Bernard Bossu (1720–1792)
Jean Bernard Bossu was a French captain and adventurer who explored the region of the Mississippi River while ...
Route of the De Soto Expedition
When the Spanish expedition of Hernando de Soto crossed the Mississippi River on June 28, 1541 (June 18 on the...
Hernando de Soto (1500?–1542)
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer who led an expedition into the southern United States. He and his sold...
Henri de Tonti (1649–1704)
aka: Henry de Tonty
Henri de Tonti helped establish the first permanent European settle...
Don Juan Filhiol (1740–1821)
aka: Jean de Filhiol
aka: Baptiste Filhiol
aka: Jean Baptiste Filhiol
Present-day Camden (Ouachita County) has its origins in a 1782 sett...
Freeman and Custis Red River Expedition
aka: Freeman Red River Expedition
aka: The Grand Excursion
Perhaps the most forgotten expedition to explore the southwest terr...
French Explorers and Settlers
The French settlers’ experience in colonial Arkansas was vital to the history of the French presence in the ...
Hunter-Dunbar Expedition
aka: Dunbar-Hunter Expedition
The Hunter-Dunbar expedition was one of only four ventures into the...
Jean Laffite's Espionage Mission
Jean Laffite was a well-known smuggler and privateer (considered a pirate by some) who operated in the Gulf of...
Henri Joutel (1643?–1735?)
Henri Joutel was a French soldier and explorer who served in the last expedition commanded by French explorer ...
Jean-Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe (1683–1765)
Jean-Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe was a French officer, trader, and explorer. He was the first European explor...
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687)
In 1682, French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle journeyed down the Mississippi River in sear...
Pierre Laclède (1729–1778)
Frenchman Pierre Laclède, credited with co-founding the city of St. Louis, Missouri, died aboard his trading ...
Louisiana Purchase Survey
The purchase of the vast Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 practically doubled the size of the United St...
Mallet Expeditions
French-Canadian brothers Pierre (1704–1751?) and Paul Mallet (1706?–1753?) participated in three expeditio...
Marquette-Joliet Expedition
In 1673, Father Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, and Louis Joliet (or Jolliet), a fur trader, undertook...
Thomas Nuttall (1786–1859)
Thomas Nuttall, a preeminent and far-ranging field naturalist, participated in the early scientific exploratio...
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793–1864)
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft published the first written description of the Arkansas Ozarks’ geography, vegetation...
Spanish Explorers and Settlers
The only Spanish expedition into present-day Arkansas began when Hernando de Soto led his party across the Mis...
Spanish Land Grants
Arkansas inherited a complex legacy of land grants from its time as part of Spanish Louisiana. Beginning in 17...