Header Image from National Park Service.gov Arkansas Post National Memorial, Gillett, Arkansas.
Arkansas was admitted on June 15, 1836 as the 25th state.
Bird: Mockingbird
The mockingbird can imitate many sounds, including the chirps of some 35 different bird species. And the chatty flier can learn over 200 different songs in its lifetime. Northern mockingbirds are very smart animals. They are able to identify humans, especially those that tried to destroy their nests. Northern mockingbirds mate for a lifetime. Male and female build nest together and produce 2 to 4 broods per season. State bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas
Flower: Apple Blossom
Apple blossoms are edible in small amounts but are poisonous to cats. Apple blossom is one of the most fragrant and beautiful flowered species. The Apple Blossom was adopted as the Arkansas State Flower by the General Assembly of 1901. Apple blossoms are symbolic of heady love, peace, sensuality, and fertility. Apple blossoms (and trees) were honored by the ancient Celts as a symbol of love, and they would decorate their bedchambers with these blossoms to entice amorous nights. The Apple Blossom is the state flower of Arkansas and Michigan.
Tree: Loblolly Pine
A southern yellow pine. U.S. Forest Service surveys found that loblolly pine is the second-most common species of tree in the United States, after red maple. The word “loblolly” is a combination of “lob”, referring to thick, heavy bubbling of cooking porridge, and “lolly”, an old British dialect word for broth, soup, or any other food boiled in a pot. In the southern United States, the word is used to mean “a mudhole; a mire,” a sense derived from an allusion to the consistency of porridge. Hence, the pine is named as it is generally found in lowlands and swampy areas.
The wood is used for furniture, pulpwood, plywood, composite boards, posts, poles, pilings, crates, boxes, pallets.
State Quarter
From theus50.com
Arkansas was admitted into the Union on June 15, 1836. Arkansas was acquired through the Louisiana Purchase and later became the Arkansas Territory before gaining statehood. The Arkansas quarter design bears the image of rice stalks, a diamond and a mallard gracefully flying above a lake.
It is fitting that the “Natural State,” Arkansas’s official nickname, chose images of natural resources. Arkansas has an abundance of clear streams, rivers and lakes. In fact, Arkansas has more than 600,000 acres of natural lakes. Arkansas is also known for its sportsmanship and boasts mallard hunting as a main attraction for hunters across the nation. Visitors can search Crater of Diamonds State Park for precious gems including, of course, diamonds. The mine at Crater of Diamonds State Park reportedly is the oldest diamond mine in North America, and the only one in the United States open to the public-visitors get to keep what they find. Visitors can also experience “Rice Fever” in Arkansas-just the way W.H. Fuller did when he grew the first commercially successful rice crop in Arkansas. Soon after, thousands of acres of the Grand Prairie were changed to cultivate rice, and Arkansas became the leading producer of the grain in the United States.
Capital: Little Rock
Nickname: The Natural State/Wonder State/ Land of Opportunity
Motto: The People Rule
The diamond is the official state gem.
The honeybee is the official state insect.
The quartz crystal is the official state rock.
The fiddle is the official state instrument.
The South Arkansas vine ripe pink tomato is the official state fruit and blossom.
Milk is the official state beverage.
Bauxite is the state mineral.
Arkansas History
Origin of state’s name: French interpretation of a Sioux word acansa, meaning downstream place.
The first European to arrive in Arkansas was Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1541. De Soto made contact with the local peoples and visited the area that is today called Hot Springs, Arkansas. It wasn’t until over 100 years later that the first European settlement was established when Frenchman Henri de Tonty built the Arkansas Post in 1686. De Tonty would later become known as the “Father of Arkansas.”
The land that includes the state of Arkansas was part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
Arkansas was admitted as a slave state. When the Civil War began in 1861, around 25% of the people living in Arkansas were slaves. The people in Arkansas did not want to go to war at first and initially voted to stay in the Union. However, in May of 1861 Arkansas became a member of the Confederate States of America. Several battles were fought in Arkansas during the Civil War including the Battle of Pea Ridge, the Battle of Helena, and the Red River Campaign.
Arkansas Facts and Trivia
Elevations in the state range from 54 feet above sea level in the far southeast corner to 2,753 feet above at Mount Magazine, the state’s highest point.
Arkansas contains over 600,000 acres of lakes and 9,700 miles of streams and rivers.
The Arkansas River is the longest stream to flow into the Mississippi-Missouri river system. Its total length is 1,450 miles.
Located just outside of Murfreesboro, Crater of Diamonds State Park allows dedicated prospectors to search for precious gems including diamonds, amethyst, garnet, jasper, agate, and quartz.
Clark Bluff overlooking the St. Francis River contains enough chalk to supply the nation for years.
Pine Bluff is known as the world center of archery bow production.
Mountain View is home to one of the largest producers of handmade dulcimers in the world.
Little River County Courthouse is world famous for its Christmas lights display.
Mount Ida is known as the Quartz Crystal Capital of the World.
Alma claims to be the Spinach Capital of the World.
Since the 1830s the area now known as Hot Springs National Park has bathed notables as diverse as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, and Al Capone. The park is entirely surrounded by the city of Hot Springs, the boyhood home of President Bill Clinton.
The road to the White House for President Bill Clinton began in Hope, then led to Hot Springs, Fayetteville, and Little Rock.
Sam Walton founded his Wal-Mart stores in Bentonville.
Like Kentucky and Tennessee, Arkansas has voted for the Republican candidate for president since 1972 except when the Democratic candidate was a southerner (Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton). In 2016 Donald Trump took the state by a margin of 60.5% of the vote.
Strange Laws
A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.
A law provides that school teachers who bob their hair will not get a raise.
Alligators may not be kept in bathtubs.
The Arkansas River can rise no higher than to the Main Street bridge in Little Rock.
Arkansas must be pronounced “Arkansaw”
A voter is only allowed five minutes to mark his ballot.
People
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- Maya Angelou, author and poet
- Helen Gurley Brown, editor
- Glen Campbell, singer
- Johnny Cash, singer
- Eldridge Cleaver, black activist
William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the U. S.- Jay Hanna (Dizzy) Dean, baseball playe,
- John Grisham, author
- Scott Joplin, musician, composer
- Alan Ladd, actor
- Douglas MacArthur, 5-star general
- Dick Powell, actor
Credits
See 50 states.com
See ducksters.com
See Wikipedia/Presidential elections