<P> Robert La Salle entered Arkansas in 1681 as part of his quest to find the mouth of the Mississippi River, and thus claim the entire river for New France . La Salle and his partner, Henri de Tonti, succeeded in this venture, claiming the river in April 1682 . La Salle would return to France while dispatching de Tonti to wait for him and hold Fort St. Louis . On the king's orders, La Salle returned to colonize the Gulf of Mexico for the French, but ran aground in Matagorda Bay . La Salle led three expeditions on foot searching for the Mississippi River, but his third party mutinied near Navasota, Texas in 1687 . de Tonti learned of La Salle's Texas expeditions and traveled south in an effort to locate him along the Mississippi River . Along this journey south, de Tonti founded Arkansas Post as a waypoint for his searches in 1686 . La Salle's party, now led by his brother, stumbled upon the Post and were greeted kindly by Quapaw with fond memories of La Salle . The troupe thought it best to lie and say La Salle remained at his new coastal colony . </P> <P> The French colonization of the Mississippi Valley would end with the later destruction of Fort St. Louis were it not for de Tonti establishing the small trading stop, Arkansas Post . The party originally led by La Salle would depart the Post and continue north to Montreal, where interest was spurred in explorers who had the knowledge that the French had a holding in the region . </P> <P> The first European settlement in Arkansas was Arkansas Post, established in 1686 by Henri De Tonti . The post disbanded for unknown reasons in 1699 but was reestablished in 1721 in the same location . Located slightly upriver from the confluence of the Arkansas River and Mississippi River, the remote post was a center of trade and home base for fur trappers in the region to trade their wares . The French settlers mingled and in some cases even intermarried with Quapaw natives, sharing a dislike of English and Chickasaw, who were allies at the time . A moratorium on furs imposed by Canada severely affected the post's economy, and many settlers began to move out of the Mississippi River Valley . Scottish banker John Law saw the struggling post and attempted to entice settlers to emigrate from Germany to start an agriculture settlement at Arkansas Post, but his efforts failed when Law - created Mississippi Bubble burst in 1720 . The French maintained the post throughout this time mostly due to its strategic significance along the Mississippi River . The post was moved back further from the Mississippi River in 1749 after the English with their Chickasaw allies attacked, it was moved downriver in 1756 to be closer to a Qua - paw defensive line that had been established, and to serve, as an repent, or trading post, during the Seven Years' War and prevent attacks from the Spanish along the Mississippi . After the war ended, the post was again moved upriver out of the floodplain in 1779 . </P> <P> The secret Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762) gave Spain the Louisiana Territory in exchange for Florida (although credit is often given to the public Treaty of Paris), including present - day Arkansas . The Spanish show little interest in Arkansas Post except for the land grants meant to inspire settlement around the post which would later cause problems with land titles given by the American government . The post's position 4 miles (6.4 km) up the Arkansas River made it a hub for trappers to start their journeys, although it also served as a diplomatic center for relations between the Spanish and Qua - paw . Many that stopped at Arkansas Post were simply passing through on their way up or down river and needed supplies or rest . Inhabitants of the post included approximately 10 elite merchants, some domestic slaves, and the wives and children of trappers who were out in the wilderness . Only the elites actually lived inside the defensive walls of the post, with the remaining people surrounding the fortification . In April 1783, Arkansas saw its only battle of the American Revolutionary War, a brief siege of the post by British Captain James Colbert, with the assistance of Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians . </P>

Where did early settlers in arkansas come from