— Ch. 1 · The Silent S And The Osage Name —
Arkansas.
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
In 1881, the Arkansas General Assembly passed a law to settle a debate over how to say the state's name. They declared that the final s must be silent and pronounced in three syllables with an Italian sound for each vowel. This decision came after two senators argued fiercely about whether to pronounce it as Arkansaw or Arkansas. Before this legislative fix, explorers had written the name in many different ways based on what they heard from Native speakers. Hernando de Soto crossed the Mississippi River in 1541 and marched through central Arkansas while his men fought native resistance along the way. The word itself comes from the Quapaw people who lived downriver from the Illinois tribe. French traders translated the Algonquian term south wind people into their own language before passing it to English speakers. Early maps showed the river flowing through the region with various spellings like Arkansea or Arcansas. The confusion persisted until the legislature stepped in to standardize pronunciation for official proceedings.
De Soto's Massacre And The First Settlement
Hernando de Soto died in May 1542 near modern-day McArthur after falling ill during his expedition across central Arkansas. His dying order commanded his men to massacre all the men of the nearby village of Anilco because he feared a plot by the powerful polity called Quigualtam. His soldiers did not stop at the men but also killed women and children before burying him in the Mississippi River under cover of darkness. They weighted his body down with sand so it would sink quickly. De Soto had tried to deceive the local population into thinking he was an immortal deity sun of the sun to prevent attacks on his weakened army. After his death, his starving men butchered hogs that were listed in his will alongside four Indian slaves and three horses. They attempted an overland return to Mexico but turned back when the land became too dry for maize farming. In 1686 Robert La Salle and Henri de Tonti established Arkansas Post at a Quapaw village making it the first European settlement in the territory. French soldiers remained as a garrison there while the region changed hands between France and Spain following the Seven Years War. Neither power showed much interest in maintaining this remote outpost until later years.