ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, Volume 16 (Winter 1957), p. 37     CHAMPAGNOLLE A PIONEER RIVER TOWN   By ANNA H. CORDELL El Dorado, Ark. * Scarborough's Landing, not Champagnolle, was the name of the pioneer county seat established on the west bank of the Ouachita River, the first within the present boundaries of Union County. There is a tradition---somewhat vague---that "the redoubtable Daniel Boone hunted wild game and Indians" over the territory in which the village originated some time before 1830. The exact date of its origin is conjecture and unimportant. Marks and hieroglyphics found on the beech trees in the virgin forests seemed to indicate the fleeting presence of settlers in the locality very early in the nineteenth century or before. What is authentically known is that names of some of the oldest inhabitants of the village appear in the census of 1830. Lawrence, John, and Silas Scarborough were among the first immigrants to build their homes on the fertile land near the river bank far south of Ecore Fabre (which was the county seat of Union County, 1829-1837). Lawrence Scarborough contrived a landing on the river for his own use and the convenience of his neighbors. It was almost midway between Ecore Fabre and the Louisiana state line and was apparently the best landing between the two points. The country reaching back from the river in this area was well supplied with good water from many clear springs. This water was probably the incentive that lured a goodly percentage of immigrants to build their homes in the region within easy reach of the landing. Gradually a settlement grew around the spot which became a popular landing place for river craft. Both village and landing took on the name of Scarborough's Landing (often spelled Scarboro's Landing). _______________________ * The author is a native of Savannah, Georgia. She took her advanced schooling in the Moravien Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa. Her hobby is Union County History. Ed.           Contents  Words  Study Questions  Related Sites Next