ARKANSAS
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Arkansas Genealogy Trails
Contributed by JoAnn Scott
Arkansas
is a wonderfully diverse place. And without question, Arkansas
is a beautiful state. From the majestic mountains of the Arkansas
Ozarks to the swampy lowlands of the Delta, there is a wealth of
natural beauty and diversity found right here in "The Natural State."
Our
varied natural environment shaped who we are and what we do. As Ellen
Neaville of Rogers
pointed out, "We tend to think we shaped the land. But the land shaped
us, and that cultural connection is so important." The rich heritage of
the people, the land and the art of the culture are an integral part of
our past and present.
Our
Arkansas
heritage is part southern, part midwestern, part southwestern, part
Appalachian. Our roots extend to Europe,
Africa and Asia.
However, we are not simply a compilation of all those things. Instead,
we have benefited and built on the heritage of other countries and
other regions from our own country, and created a distinct heritage of
our own.
As
Arkansans, we share an underlying common heritage; however, we are not
all cut from the same cloth. The land and people of each part of the
state are different from those of other parts.
When
people arrived in Arkansas,
they found mountains, prairies, swamps and much more. As they tried to
fit their uses of the land to the environment, they changed it, and
their own lives changed, sometimes dramatically. Sometimes the changes
caused problems because the people didn't understand the needs and
values of the land.
For
example, settlers of the northwestern Arkansas Ozarks often found these
ancient mountains to be a rugged land with steep slopes, thin soil, bad
roads and few prospects for "a good life." Cotton farming led to soil
depletion, erosion and abandonment. Folks scratched out a meager
existence and relied on each other but were suspicious of strangers.
These are key elements of the Ozark mountaineer lifestyle. Today, the
scenery of these mountains attracts visitors and residents from across
the nation and they are the major growth areas of Arkansas.
They are the image most people have when they envision "Arkansas,
the Natural
State."
However,
in the Delta of eastern Arkansas
people found a land with swamps, floods and mosquitoes, a wildlife
paradise with deep soil that made cash-crop agriculture and plantations
possible. Planters brought slaves from Africa,
and eventually used mighty machines, to drain the swamps and clear the
forest to grow cotton. Even long after emancipation, this is an area of
both wealth and poverty, and an ecosystem that has been altered more
than almost any other in North America.
The forests have been cleared and the floods that created the system
have been tamed by a huge network of levees and ditches. This area is
the center of agricultural production in the state today, but is the
focus of massive governmental programs to restore marginal crop lands
to bottomland forest, along with the waterfowl and other wildlife that
once occurred here in such abundance.
The
Ozarks and the Delta are just two of the six major natural divisions of
Arkansas.
In each of these regions of Arkansas
the land has distinctive potentials and limitations. People have
examined, embraced and exploited these potentials, and in doing so have
shaped the landscape. In turn they have been shaped by it. To
understand Arkansas
we must understand each of these parts; then we can put the parts
together to see the whole.
Arkansas's Regions- Ozark
Mountains, Arkansas
Valley,
Ouachita Mountains, Gulf
Coastal Plain, Delta Crowley's
Ridge
You
can understand Arkansas,
its people and its settlements, by studying the landscape and
geography. About 400 million years ago, Arkansas
was under the ocean during the Paleozoic Era. Rock, known as limestone,
was created when the creatures living in the water died and accumulated
on the bottom of the oceans. Limestone is found in northern Arkansas.
In western Arkansas,
sandstone and shale were laid down, also remnants of the Paleozoic Era.
Also during this era, the plateaus of the Ozark
Mountains were formed, as well as the long ridges of
the Ouachita Mountains.
At
the time dinosaurs roamed the earth during the Mesozoic Era, eastern
and south Arkansas
were under the waters of what would be the Gulf of
Mexico. This was 130 million years ago. The Gulf
of Mexico withdrew from Arkansas
about 50 million years ago during the Cenozoic Era and left behind sand
and gravel that is common in south Arkansas
today.
Today,
the geography of Arkansas
can be divided into the uplands and the lowlands. The uplands have
mountains and are rocky while the lowlands are hilly in some places and
low, flat and wet in other places. The soil is sandy and there are many
rivers. Each supports many different plants and animals, farming,
scenery and recreational opportunities.
From
the uplands to the lowlands, Arkansas
can be subdivided into six natural divisions, each with its own unique
geographical features.
