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- About Southwest Arkansas
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- When the
Territory of Arkansas was created in 1819, Hempstead
- County embraced the entire southwest corner of
the territory. Until the Great Southwest was opened for settlement after
the Texas Revolution in 1836, Southwest Arkansas was the edge of the frontier
for the United States. To the west was the Indian Territory; south of the
Red River was the Spanish (later the Mexican) Province of Texas. Due to
its historical and geographical location, a culture developed in Southwest
Arkansas that differed from the Delta areas of East and Southeast Arkansas
or the mountain regions of the Ouachitas and the Ozarks to the north.
- Today this same area is divided
into these twelve counties: Columbia, Howard, Lafayette, Little River,
Miller, Nevada, Ouachita, Pike, Polk, Sevier, Union and Hempstead.
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- This area was historically significant long before
the Louisiana Purchase. The Great Bend in the Red River was the center
of the important Caddo Indian Culture which disappeared shortly before
1800---and the river was to play a decisive role as the white man moved
westward. It brought the early explorers, settlers and slave readers who
led the way for later legends such as Stephen Austin, Jim Bowie, and Sam
Houston. The rich bottomlands and sandy redlands attracted cotton planters
and independent farm families from Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama
and Tennessee. The Archives seeks to document this little-known chapter
of American history.
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- Who May Use The Archives
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- All serious
researchers, including grade school students,are welcome to use the collection.
materials cannot
- leave the Archives, but must be used in the research
rooms. Copies may be obtained of materials whose condition will allow copying.
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- How You Can Help
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- The Southwest
Arkansas Regional Archives is a non-profit research center dependent upon
donations of
- money as well as historical materials. Historical
materials may be donated through any member of the Board of Directors or
by contacting:
- Director
- Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives
- Box 134
- Washington, Arkansas 71862
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- Checks may be payable to:
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- Southwest Arkansas Regional Archives
- or Friends of SARA
- Washington, Arkansas 71862
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- The Archives also copies family records for the
archives if the donor wishes to retain the originals.
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