October 18, 2010

The Quapaw leader Sarasin (also spelled Saracen, Sarasen, or Sarrasin), whose tombstone is pictured here, became a legend in Arkansas when, in the late eighteenth century, he rescued two children from their Chickasaw captors. When Sarasin learned of the children’s kidnapping, he is said to have gone to the mother and vowed that he would return them unharmed. Journeying down the Arkansas River by canoe, he surprised the Chickasaw with a Quapaw war cry. Frightened, the Chickasaw captors abandoned the children, and Sarasin returned them safely to their mother. For his actions, he was presented a presidential medal by Governor James Miller. He is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County).