June 22, 2009

Of the seventy-five counties of the state of Arkansas, many have been named in honor of prominent politicians of the United States. On September 30, 1836, the state legislature named the newest county at the time in honor of the U.S. senator from Missouri, Thomas Hart Benton. A senator for thirty years, and the first to be elected five times, Benton was a strong advocate of westward expansion, supporting the settlement of Arkansas.