September 7, 1541

It is thought that Hernando de Soto and his band traveled down the North Fork of the Saline River and visited the site where Benton (Saline County) stands. They found the area densely populated with Native Americans, and it would be nearly 300 years before another white man would come that way. A de Soto trail marker rests at the old junction of U.S. Highways 67 and 70. It is a large boulder of bauxite ore on a gray granite base with a cast aluminum tablet bearing the inscription, “De Soto Trail. By here the De Soto expedition marched September 7, 1541. Erected 1935 by citizens of Saline County.”

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