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Arkansas Territory
Organized incorporated territory of theUnited States
1819–1836
Flag of the United States (1822–1836) Seal (1835 design)
Capital	Arkansas Post (1819–1821) Little Rock (1821–1836)
Area
• Coordinates	34°44′10″N92°19′52″W / 34.73611°N 92.33111°W /34.73611; -92.33111
Government
• Type	Organized incorporated territory
• Motto	"Regnat populi" (Latin) "The people reign."
President
• 1819–1825	James Monroe
• 1825–1829	John Quincy Adams
• 1829–1836	Andrew Jackson
Governor
• 1819–1824	James Miller
• 1825–1828	George Izard
• 1829–1835	John Pope
• 1835–1836	William Fulton
Legislature	General Assembly
• Upper house	Legislative Council
• Lower house	House of Representatives
History
• Affirmed byCongress[1]	2 March 1819
• Officially became territory	July 4, 1819
• Indian Trade and Intercourse Act	June 30, 1834
• Treaty of Washington	May 6, 1828
• Statehood ofArkansas	15 June 1836
Preceded by Succeeded by Missouri Territory Arkansas Unorganized territory
Today part of	United States Arkansas Oklahoma

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TheArkansas Territory was aterritory of the United States from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to theUnion as the State ofArkansas.^[2]Arkansas Post was the first territorial capital (1819–1821) andLittle Rock was the second (1821–1836).^[3]

The name Arkansas has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of fashions. The region was organized as the Territory of Arkansaw on March 2, 1819, but the final extent of the territory was admitted to theUnion as the State of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically pronounced/ˈɑːrkənsɔː/,/ɑːrˈkænzəs/, and had several other pronunciation variants. In 1881, theArkansas General Assembly passed the following concurrent resolution (Arkansas Statutes, Title 1, Chapter 4, Section 105):

Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings.

And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history, and the early usage of the American immigrants.

Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final "s" silent, the "a" in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of "a" in "man" and the sounding of the terminal "s" is an innovation to be discouraged.

Residents ofKansas often pronounce theArkansas River as/ɑːrˈkænzəsˈrɪvər/ in a manner similar to the common pronunciation of the name of their state.

The first official use of the name Arkansas came in 1806 when the southern portion of New Madrid County in Louisiana Territory was designated as the District of Arkansas. In 1813, it became Arkansas County in Missouri Territory. When Missouri applied for statehood, it requested a southern boundary at 36º30′, except for a small section between the St. Francis River and the Mississippi River, where it extended south to 36º. This line later became the northern boundary of the Arkansas Territory.^[4]

On March 2, 1819, at the penultimate meeting of the15th United States Congress, Congress passed the Arkansas organic act (3 Stat. L. 493), providing for the creation of the Arkansaw Territory on July 4, 1819, from the portion of theMissouri Territory lying south of a point on theMississippi River at36 degrees north latitude running west to theSt. Francis River, then following the river to 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, then west to the territorial boundary.^[5][6] This included all of the present state ofOklahoma south of theparallel 36°30' north. The westernmost portion of the territory was removed on November 15, 1824, and a second westernmost portion was removed on May 6, 1828, reducing the territory to the extent of the present state of Arkansas.

Originally the western border ofMissouri was intended to go due south to theRed River. During negotiations with theChoctaw in 1820, however,Andrew Jackson unknowingly ceded more of Arkansas Territory. Then in 1824, after further negotiations, the Choctaw agreed to move farther west, but only by "100 paces" of the garrison onBelle Point. This resulted in the bend in the common border atFort Smith.^[7]

The territory originally had nine counties: Arkansas, Clark, Crawford (which includedLovely's Purchase), Hempstead, Independence, Lawrence, Miller, Phillips, and Pulaskị.^[8]

In the1830 United States census,23 counties in the Arkansas Territory reported the following population counts (after only 7 reported the following counts in the1820 United States census):^[9]

These census counts did not include Native Americans, and the earlier count includes 1,617 slaves. Though a census ofCherokee was to be taken as part of theJackson and McMinn Treaty in 1818, it was never conducted. Instead, when the treaty was renegotiated in 1819, it usedJohn C. Calhoun's estimate of 5000 Cherokee in Arkansas, despite the Cherokee Nation's estimate of 3,500.^[10] TheQuapaw were counted at 455 in the mid 1820s.^[11]

Robert Crittenden was the territorial secretary until 1829 and thede facto territorial governor, preparing Arkansas for statehood. Until present-dayOklahoma received statehood, Fort Smith served as the ostensible legal authority overseeing theIndian Territory. TheArmy oversaw issues dealing with theIndian Nations.

• Adams–Onís Treaty
• Arkansas Territorial Militia
• Territorial evolution of the United States

• Media related toArkansas Territory at Wikimedia Commons
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Arkansas Territory
• Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory

• States and territories established in 1819
• States and territories disestablished in 1836
• Arkansas Territory
• 1819 establishments in Arkansas Territory
• 1810s in Arkansas Territory
• 1820s in Arkansas Territory
• 1830s in Arkansas Territory
• 1830s in Arkansas
• 1820s in Indian Territory
• 1830s in Indian Territory
• 1820s in the United States
• 1830s in the United States
• 1836 disestablishments in the United States
• 19th century in Arkansas
• 19th century in Oklahoma
• Cherokee Nation (1794–1907)
• Former organized territories of the United States
• Pre-statehood history of Arkansas
• Pre-statehood history of Oklahoma
• Southern United States
• Quapaw

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