Entry Type: Event - Starting with L

L’Anguille Ferry, Skirmish at

On August 3, 1862, a skirmish took place at L’Anguille Ferry, just north of Marianna (Lee County). The skirmish was in direct response to a Union victory at the Action at Hill’s Plantation, which took place July 7. The Confederate victory at L’Anguille Ferry resulted in Union troops in eastern Arkansas remaining near the Mississippi River until the following year. One of the regiments so affected by the Action at Hill’s Plantation in Woodruff County was that of Colonel William H. Parsons of Texas. He planned to avenge his loss to the Union at Hill’s Plantation. With the blessing of General Thomas C. Hindman, he went searching for a target. The First Wisconsin Cavalry, under the command of Colonel Edward …

Labor Day Bombings of 1959

The Labor Day bombings in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 1959 represented the last gasp of opposition to the desegregation of the capital city’s Central High School. Coming almost two years to the day after the Little Rock Nine’s first attempt to attend Central High, the coordinated set of explosions evinced a stark and violent reminder of the continuing racial tensions in Arkansas’s capital. The damage was limited, however, and the effort was arguably more symbolic than substantive. At the same time, the bombings highlighted the fact that, while the determined effort to resist the integration of Central High had finally been overcome—with the historic high school having opened its doors for the 1959–60 school year to a student body …

Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee

The court case Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee examined the structure for the funding of Arkansas schools in a grueling, fifteen-year process. This case led to the subsequent overhaul of public school funding with the aim to be more fair and exact and to benefit all Arkansas students equally. In 1992, the school district of Lake View (Phillips County) first brought its case against the State of Arkansas, claiming that the funding system for the public schools violated both the state’s constitution and the U.S. Constitution because it was inequitable and inadequate. At that time, schools received funding from three levels of government: local, state, and federal. Because some local governments had more tax money available for …

Laman v. McCord

aka: W. F. Laman, et al. v. Robert S. McCord, et al.
W. F. Laman, et al. v. Robert S. McCord, et al. was a 1968 decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court that established the framework for interpreting the state Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in ways that favored public access to meetings and government papers. The lawsuit leading to the decision of the Supreme Court was filed only weeks after the Arkansas General Assembly enacted the FOIA. The law gave the public and the media the right to examine and copy public records and to be present whenever governmental bodies met. The unanimous opinion used unusually strong language in condemning a violation of the new act at a closed meeting of the city council of North Little Rock (Pulaski County) and …

Lamb’s Plantation, Skirmish at

aka: Skirmish at Helena (August 1, 1864)
  Part of the Confederate campaign to disrupt Union operations in eastern Arkansas in the summer of 1864, the Skirmish at Lamb’s Plantation pitted Southern cavalry against freed slaves and Northern civilians. While this was not a major military engagement, the Confederates were successful in their attack and forced many of the families in the area from their land, while tying up Federal troops. Brigadier General Joseph O. Shelby commanded a brigade of Missouri cavalry in eastern Arkansas during the summer of 1864. Shelby was tasked with gathering recruits for the Southern cause, stopping bands of guerrillas from attacking civilians, and wreaking as much havoc as possible on Union outposts in the area. He tried to avoid a major engagement with Federal …

Lawrenceville, Skirmish at

aka: Skirmish at Green's Farm
This short skirmish appears to have taken place as part of general operations in southeastern Arkansas, with no direct connection to any larger Civil War campaign. At 7:00 a.m. on November 19, 1863, Major William J. Teed led the Eighth Missouri Cavalry (US) in an attack against a Confederate force commanded by Major John B. Cocke, eight miles west of Lawrenceville (Monroe County) on the farmland of a Dr. Green. Teed’s force captured and destroyed cooking utensils and a variety of other material goods and foodstuffs. The estimated casualties amounted to four Confederates killed. A claim made by local citizens that Maj. Cocke and a Lieutenant McBride numbered among the Confederate dead could not be confirmed by Teed. Maj. Cocke, …

Lebow (Lynching of)

A group of men lynched a white man named Lebow (also spelled as Lebo), described as a “villain, murderer and horse-thief,” in Polk County in August 1877, apparently ending a series of crimes by which he had terrorized the area. The Fort Smith Independent reported on August 8, 1877, that “an old man named Lebow was hung by a party of men last week in Polk County, for foully murdering two men who were travelling in the direction of Hot Springs. Lebow has been a terror to the citizens of Polk County for many years.” He apparently operated from his home on one of the major roads through the county to kill and steal. “Many travelers have lost their horses, …

Lepanto Terrapin Derby

The Lepanto Terrapin Derby is a festival that has been held in Lepanto (Poinsett County) every year since 1930. It occurs on the first Saturday in October on Main Street. The Terrapin Derby was the creation of the Willie Lamb Post 26 of the American Legion, which designed it as a fundraiser for its various community projects. It was originally called the Annual American Legion Turtle Derby. Turtle racers were charged an entry fee, and the top three finishers shared in a cash prize. The turtles raced down a sixty-foot course toward a finish line that was lined with slices of watermelon. Delta residents, desperate for a diversion of any kind during the Great Depression, gathered their entrants and flocked …

Lewis, Sanford (Lynching of)

At midnight on March 23, 1912, a mob hanged Sanford Lewis from a trolley pole in Fort Smith (Sebastian County). He had been suspected of shooting Deputy Constable Andy Carr, who sustained a fatal wound above the eye. Although the Arkansas Gazette refers to this as the first lynching in Sebastian County, it was actually the first lynching of an African American there. The murder of a white man named James Murray in the county on December 6, 1897, was described in many media outlets as a lynching. Deputy Constable Andy Carr was probably the Andy Care [sic] listed on the census as living in Ward 4 in Fort Smith in 1910. Living with him were his wife, Della, and …

Lewisburg, Skirmish at

Lewisburg (Conway County), a thriving town in the 1860s, was the site of a significant occupation force of Union troops during the Civil War. Located about fifty miles west of Little Rock (Pulaski County), it was the first and most significant river port along the way to Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and Indian Territory. Federal troops under the command of General Frederick Steele raised the U.S. flag there on September 28, 1863, and remained there as an occupation force until August 1865. As Conway County had divided interests and loyalties, two Union companies were raised there soon after the Rebels abandoned their relatively unprotected positions in late 1863. These units were assigned to the newly formed Third Arkansas Regimental Cavalry …

Lick Creek Expedition

aka: Helena Expedition (March 6–10, 1863)
aka: Big Creek Expedition
  The Lick Creek Expedition was an attempt to find Confederate forces located around Big and Lick creeks in Phillips County. On March 6, 1863, Brigadier General Benjamin M. Prentiss in Helena (Phillips County) dispatched 500 men from the Fifth Kansas Cavalry under the command of Major Samuel Walker. After searching for Confederate forces for two days, Walker reported back to Prentiss early on March 8 that they could not find any Confederates in the area. Walker took a different approach and advised Major Edward F. Winslow of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry to cross Big Creek while he moved across another area of the creek. Both Maj. Walker and Maj. Winslow encountered small Confederate forces; Winslow killed one Confederate, destroyed their …

Lick Creek, Skirmish at

With the capture of Helena (Phillips County) on the Mississippi River, Federal forces had a tenuous foothold in Arkansas. Deep in enemy territory, the Union troops were forced to constantly patrol against the threat of a Confederate attack on the city. When Federal units did leave the city, they were likely to draw the attention of enemy forces and be attacked. Colonel Powell Clayton of the Fifth Kansas Cavalry led an expedition from Helena on January 11, 1863, in the direction of the White River. On January 12, Lieutenant James Bradford, commanding twenty-five men of the Second Wisconsin Cavalry, left on a mission to deliver a number of dispatches back to Helena from the expedition. Leaving the expedition near Big …

Lightfoot, G. P. F. (Lynching of)

In December 1892, African-American Baptist minister G. P. F. Lightfoot, referred to in most accounts as “Preacher Lightfoot,” was murdered by a group of African Americans in Jackson County in retaliation for taking their money and promising them nonexistent passage to Liberia. Interest in immigrating to Africa started early in the United States. The Back-to-Africa movement dates back to 1816, when the American Colonization Society (ACS) was established to help free blacks resettle in Africa. The Republic of Liberia was established in 1847 and was recognized by the U.S. government in 1864. Following the Civil War, many newly freed Arkansas slaves became interested in the movement, especially those in majority-black counties in the Arkansas Delta. The Liberian Exodus Arkansas Colony …

Limestone Valley, Skirmish at

A small skirmish between Arkansas Federals and Confederate-leaning guerrillas in the rugged Ozark Mountains, this engagement was part of an effort to keep Confederate forces both from attacking Union units and from terrorizing the local population. This engagement is typical of the type of fighting at this point of the war between Union forces and irregular units. On April 14, 1864, Colonel John Phelps of the Second Arkansas Cavalry (US) ordered Major James Melton to take 110 men and move against a guerrilla force nearby under the command of a man known as Sissell. Melton and his men departed the next day. Captain John Bailey and his company were ordered to work with Melton’s unit in creating a pincer movement …

Lindbergh Day

aka: Guggenheim Tour
Not long after Charles Lindbergh completed his successful transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, France, he returned to the United States and toured ninety-two cities in forty-eight states. His flight tour began on July 20, 1927, at Mitchel Field in New York, and ended at Mitchel Field on October 23, 1927. His landing in Little Rock (Pulaski County) at the Little Rock Airport (now the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport) on October 1 and the following festivities marked one of the biggest events in the city’s history to that point. Lindbergh’s tour was officially known as the Guggenheim Tour, as it was financed by industrialist and multi-millionaire Daniel Guggenheim. Guggenheim, and his son Harry, were proponents of aviation …

Lindbergh, Charles, First Night Flight of

In the acclaim for Charles Augustus Lindbergh following his solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1927, few people recognized the small but significant role Arkansas played in the historic event. Today, a modest monument off Highway 159 near Lake Village (Chicot County) marks the Arkansas site that contributed to one of the greatest stories in American history. In April 1923, Charles Lindbergh was a young airmail pilot who had taught himself to fly. He had engine trouble on a flight between Mississippi and Houston, Texas, and landed near Lake Chicot in Lake Village, in an open space which was used as a local golf course. The nearest building was the clubhouse. The keeper, Mr. Henry, and his family sometimes used the building …

Little Miss Arkansas Pageant

The Little Miss Arkansas Pageant was one of the first children’s beauty and talent pageants for young girls in the state. The Little Miss Arkansas Pageant was founded in 1979 by Barbara Johnson of Hot Springs (Garland County). She had followed the Miss Arkansas Pageant for many years and consulted with Bob Wheeler, then the director of the Miss Arkansas Pageant, who encouraged her to establish something similar for young girls. The pageant was first held at the Ramada Inn in downtown Hot Springs but moved to the Hot Springs Convention Center in 2001. The pageant started with four age groups: Tiny, Petite, Pre-Teen, and Teen, adding the Baby division in 1982. The pageant is open to any Arkansas girl …

Little Red River, Skirmish at (June 6, 1864)

aka: Skirmish at Beeler's Ferry
On May 27, 1864, Brigadier General Joseph Shelby was promoted to command all Arkansas Confederate forces north of the Arkansas River. Earlier that month, Union forces concluded their disastrous Camden Expedition and for the remainder of the war in Arkansas were reluctant to launch any large-scale operations outside of defending their own garrisons and supply lines. Shelby had about 1,200 men under his command at the time of his promotion, and during the next three months, he aggressively recruited men of fighting age within his jurisdiction, many of whom were deserters evading conscription or bushwhackers. In a letter to Major General Sterling Price dated July 27, Shelby boasted that he had 5,000 men under his command. The number was likely …

Little Red River, Skirmish at (May 17, 1862)

 The Skirmish at Little Red River on May 17, 1862, was one of many that took place as foraging parties of Union major general Samuel R. Curtis searched for much needed provisions. On this rainy Saturday morning, about 100 Rebels, loosely organized but determined to thwart the Federals in their advance toward Little Rock (Pulaski County), attacked the foraging party sent by Colonel George E. Waring Jr. of the Fourth Missouri Cavalry. This skirmish—which took place two days before the most significant engagement in White County, the Action at Whitney’s Lane—coupled with skirmishes continuing into June, ultimately led to Curtis’s abandonment of his assignment to take the capital city and assume military authority over the state. Following the Union victory …

Little Red River, Skirmishes at (June 5 and 7, 1862)

     As the Federal forces under Major General Samuel R. Curtis attempted to move from Batesville (Independence County) down the Little Red River area toward Little Rock (Pulaski County), the Rebels were determined to keep up the constant harassment of the enemy. During May and June 1862, Rebel forces repeatedly thwarted Curtis’s efforts to advance toward his goal of capturing Little Rock and assuming control over the capital city and the Arkansas River and its tributaries. The skirmishes in early June that occurred near the Little Red River—following the most significant action in White County, the Action at Whitney’s Lane—contributed greatly to the abandonment of Curtis’s objective. The Little Red River flows through north-central Arkansas for approximately 100 miles, …

Little River County Race War of 1899

The Little River County Race War occurred in March 1899 in southwestern Arkansas and entailed the murder of at least seven African Americans throughout Little River County. The reported impetus for this race war was the murder of a white planter by a black man, but white fear of “insurrection” on the part of black residents quickly manifested itself into a campaign of violence and terror against African Americans. During the last half of the nineteenth century, lynchings were widespread in Arkansas, especially in the southern part of the state. A number of factors contributed to this racial animus. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the black population of Arkansas increased greatly, mostly due to recruiters who canvassed the …

Little River, Skirmish at

  Throughout the Civil War, dangerous bands of guerrillas roamed throughout Mississippi County, Arkansas, and the adjacent Missouri counties of Dunklin and Pemiscot, terrorizing citizens with looting, murder, and other forms of lawlessness. Due to the rampant activities of these renegades, composed primarily of Confederate deserters and civilian sympathizers, commerce in affected communities came to a standstill. As part of a concerted effort by Union military commanders to suppress these activities, Captain Valentine Preuitt received orders on April 5, 1864, from Major John W. Rabb (Second Missouri Artillery, Commanding at New Madrid, Missouri) to lead a scouting expedition from New Madrid into the aforementioned districts. Departing camp in the early hours of April 6, Capt. Preuitt’s expedition, comprising Companies G, …

Little Rock Arsenal, Seizure of the

The seizure of the Little Rock Arsenal was an event during the secession crisis of 1861. The people of Arkansas were contemplating leaving the Union, and armed volunteer companies from around the state took control of the Federal arsenal from soldiers of the U.S. Army. The crisis began in November 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. In response to the prodding of Governor Henry Rector, the Arkansas House of Representatives passed a bill on December 22, calling for voters to decide if a state secession convention should be held and, if so, select delegates to attend. The state Senate passed the bill on January 15, 1861, and the election was set for February 18. During …

Little Rock Campaign

aka: Arkansas Expedition
The Little Rock Campaign was a Civil War campaign in which the Union army under Major General Frederick Steele maneuvered Confederate troops under Major General Sterling Price out of the Arkansas capital, thus returning Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Federal control in 1863 and giving the Union effective control of the strategically important Arkansas River Valley. Conditions were right for a Federal campaign to capture Little Rock and add it to the list of Union-controlled capitals of states that had seceded. The July 4, 1863, Battle of Helena had cost Confederate attackers heavy casualties and crippled their morale. The fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi, on the same day made thousands of Union soldiers available for duty on other fronts. Authorities in …

Little Rock Marathon

The Little Rock Marathon, the largest marathon in the state, began in 2003 with 2,527 registered participants and has grown to well over 10,000 runners and walkers as of 2013. It is traditionally held each year on the first Sunday of March. The course begins in downtown Little Rock (Pulaski County) and runs through the River Market District and Quapaw Quarter District, and then by the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park, Little Rock City Hall, the Arkansas Arts Center, Philander Smith College, Central High School, the Arkansas State Capitol, and Murray Park before reaching the finish line in Riverfront Park. The Little Rock Marathon began in 2003 as a fundraiser for the City of Little Rock’s Parks and …

Little Rock School Desegregation Cases (1982–2014)

aka: Little Rock School District, et al v. Pulaski County Special School District et al.
From 1982 until 2014, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division, handled Little Rock School District, et al. v. Pulaski County Special School District et al. At least six federal district judges presided over the case during this span of time. In 1984, the district court ruled that three school districts situated in Pulaski County were unconstitutionally segregated: the Little Rock School District (LRSD), the Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD), and the North Little Rock School District (NLRSD). One reason for the ruling was that the population of Little Rock was approximately sixty-five percent white in 1984, while seventy percent of Little Rock School District students were black. Those who brought the case feared …

Little Rock Uprising of 1968

What became known as the Little Rock Uprising of 1968 was triggered by the controversial killing of inmate Curtis Ingram at the Pulaski County Penal Farm. A subsequent community rally protesting the circumstances surrounding the killing and its investigation ended in violence. Three nights of unrest followed until Governor Winthrop Rockefeller imposed countywide curfews that finally brought the crisis to an end. The events ultimately led to changes in the previously discriminatory way that grand juries—which provided oversight for investigations at the penal farm—had been selected in Pulaski County. In August 1968, eighteen-year-old Curtis Ingram, who was African American, was arrested for a traffic violation and later charged with drug offenses. He was sent to the penal farm to pay …

Little Rock, Skirmish at (September 2, 1864)

  The skirmish at the tannery near Little Rock (Pulaski County) proved a minor affair but provided local Union forces with intelligence on the whereabouts of area Confederate movements and posts. On September 2, 1864, Captain Thomas J. Mitchell of the Third Missouri Cavalry reported that approximately seventy-five Confederate troops attacked the Union forces at the tannery but failed to repel them. The number of Confederate wounded is unknown, while Union forces lost several horses but captured a Confederate soldier. The Confederate prisoner informed Capt. Mitchell that he belonged to Colonel John L. Logan’s regiment, consisting of 150 to 200 men, which started its march from Benton (Saline County) that morning. On the south side of the Saline River were …

Livingston, Abe (Lynching of)

Although apparently only one Arkansas newspaper covered it, in late August 1884 an African-American man named Abe Livingston was hanged in Desha County for allegedly robbing and threatening a white man named William Kite. A search of public records revealed no information on either Kite or Livingston. According to an August 26 article in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Daily Independent, which was reprinted a week later in the Batesville Guard, Livingston was a “dangerous negro” who, sometime earlier in 1884, had robbed Kite. He was arrested at the time and put in jail in Arkansas City (Desha County). At some point in July, he escaped from jail. While he was free, he allegedly made several attempts to kill Kite and also …

Livingston, Frank (Lynching of)

Former soldier Frank Livingston was burned alive at age twenty-five near El Dorado (Union County) on May 21, 1919, for the alleged murder of his employer. Livingston’s lynching was among several similar incidents in Arkansas involving returned African-American World War I–era servicemen. At the time of the 1910 census, Frank Livingston was living with his parents, Nelson and India Livingston, and his three brothers in Tubal Township, Union County. Although the census record indicates that Frank was born around 1893, subsequent draft records give his birthdate as November 1, 1892, in Shuler (Union County). Nelson Livingston and his two older sons, Ruf and Frank, were working as farmers on the “home farm.” Frank Livingston’s parents could read and write, but …

Logan County Draft War

aka: Franklin County Draft War
The Logan County Draft War was an episode of armed draft resistance in Arkansas during World War I. Following on the heels of the more infamous Cleburne County Draft War, the Logan County incident—which actually took place predominately in Franklin County, and later in the wooded area near Mount Magazine—followed the familiar pattern of previous draft skirmishes in which a local posse encountered suspected draft evaders, resulting in a shootout, a death, and then a wider manhunt. On August 5, 1918, authorities from Ozark (Franklin County) assembled a posse of seven men led by a Constable Horton to investigate the farmhouse of J. H. Benson near Cecil (Franklin County). It is unclear from the sources whether this posse was formed …