338 PIONEER FAMILIES Elijah Stuart built a log house on a site which now lies in the eastern part of Washington. In the house he opened the first tavern in the town. Other settlers who arrived soon after were Jerimiah Pate, William and Henry Stephenson, Nathan Shook, "Uncle Kickman" and his sons, William and Peter, and Daniel T. Witter. James Moss and his nephew, Matthew Moss, settled in 1814 in the neighborhood a few miles northeast of Washington (6). John Johnson opened the first store in the place. Absalom Madden was the second merchant, and about the year 1827 Abraham Block opened a store (7).   IMPORTANCE OF MILITARY ROADS   Early in 1832 a military road was cut through from Little Rock to Fort Towson in the Indian Territory. Its line crossed the Ouachita River a few miles above Arkadelphia, in Clark County, and ran thence in a southwesterly direction to Washington. The choice of such a route was important to the economy of the new county seat of justice and when, not long afterward, another road from Fort Jessup, in Louisiana, was cut through and made junction at Washington, it seemed then that the town could be assured of a prosperous future because the roads furnished the only westerly routes available, the rivers usually running from north to south (8).     BIRTHPLACE OF THE TEXAS REVOLUTION   G. W. Featherstonhaugh, an English traveled who passed through Washington during the 1830s, was a sensitive observer. ______________________ 6. Ibid, 379. 7. Ibid., 384-385. 8. lbid., 379.           Contents  Words  Study Questions  Related Sites Next Page