July 22, 2011

The Old State House, located on Markham Street in Little Rock (Pulaski County), was the focal point for much of the action concerning the disputed 1872 governor’s election between rivals Elisha Baxter and Joseph Brooks. Irregularities in the election led to several weeks of uneasiness in the state in 1874 while Brooks contested the election of Baxter. Incidents of violence periodically erupted until Baxter was ultimately declared the legally elected governor, ending the so-called Brooks-Baxter War. This period print shows Brooks’s forces as they gathered on the State House grounds.