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Anglo-American traders began coming in even before the Louisiana Purchase of 1803; and soon "squatters" appeared. These squatters were little different from the migratory hunters and traders who preceded them; all lived in Indian fashion. It was the custom of the squatters to sell their preemption rights to settlers, then move on more sparsely settled territory. It is surprising how many of the earliest permanent residents bought out squatters. (4)

From 1820 to 1840 a few hog drovers came down from the counties to the north to fatten their hogs on the mast that is so abundant in the creek bottoms in fall and winter. (5) The first land entries were made in 1835. The forties and especially the fifties saw a large immigration of substantial people bringing in their families, slaves, and livestock. Many were on their way to Texas, stopping because of a severe winter, sickness, weariness of travel, or the sight of a beautiful wooden home located near a spring, a good range for their cattle, or an abundance of game. Others who located first in unhealthful regions to the west or on the bleak prairies of Texas retraced their steps to the high, well drained though less fertile sandy hills on the divide between the Ouachita and Red rivers. Often some one was sent ahead to"spy out the promised land." Then some unattached member of the family would be sent over, with a number of slaves and provisions for several months, to clear the land, build fences, and construct temporary houses. The following year the rest of the household came in. Some remember using tents until permanent shelters were erected, while others bought their first homes from squatters. (6)
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4. Interview with E. L. Dudney, December 5, 1932, see also H. E. Bolton , Ed., Athanase de

Mazieres and the Louisiana-Texas Frontier (Cleveland, 1914), I 14-179, passim.

5. Interview with Luther Jones of Emerson, May 20, 1933.
6. Conditions described by members of the following pioneer families of the county: Jackson, Nall,

Dickson, Tally, Murphy, Christie, Dudney, Frazier, Matthews, Keith, Jamerson, Lewis, Jones, Kelso, Davis, Bird, Warnock, Dee, Couch.

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