Visitors Guide to Mississippi County, Arkansas
Hampson Archeological Museum State Park
Wilson, Arkansas
Mississippi County is located in the northeastern corner of Arkansas and is named for the river that forms its eastern boundary. The county has been the site of human inhabitation since before the arrival of the Europeans. There are over 800 known archeological sites in the county and the Nodena phase (1400 - 1650 CE) can be explored at the Hampson Archeological Museum State Park in Wilson. It is believed that Spanish explorer Hernando de Sotos visited parts of Mississippi County when he explored the region in 1541. It is also thought that French explorer Father Jacques Marquette (1673) and Robert de La Salle (1682) visited the area during their explorations of the Mississippi River. Despite this early exploration the area didn’t attract much attention from the Europeans because the terrain was primarily swamp land and was prone to flooding. The few Europeans that did make the area home settled by the along the rivers’ edges and were primarily hunters and trappers.
The advent of the steamboat in the early 1800s led to a small increase in the European population with settlements being formed to supply the steamboats with cut cordwood. Present day Mississippi County was formed in 1833 with Osceola being named the county seat. The Native American population was gradually displaced as more settlers began clearing land for farming. Some local farmers built modest levees to protect their crops, but overflow from the Mississippi and other rivers has always been a problem. The federal Swamp Land Grant Act of 1850 granted swamp and overflowed land to the state for it to sell. Proceeds from the sales would go to the building of levees and drains.
When Arkansas seceded from the Union at the beginning of the Civil War, several companies of soldiers were formed and left Mississippi County to serve with the Confederate forces. Very little ground action occurred in Mississippi County itself although there were raids from Union troops from Missouri and from Fort Pillow across the river in Tennessee on Osceola. Reconstruction after the war was difficult for the county. Mississippi County was one of ten Arkansas counties placed under martial law due to the activity of the Ku Klux Klan and a regiment of the state militia was sent in to keep order. The Black Hawk War in 1872 involved a series of confrontations involving the Klan and former slaves. In one fatal confrontation in Osceola, African Americans were attacked by white residents and Klan members. Sheriff J. B. Murray was killed by a white judge who was an appointee of the governor. The judge was arrested but managed to escape across the river and was never brought to justice. A number of black residents were killed during this period and many simply left the county.
At the end of the 19th century the virgin forests of the region attracted the attention of Northern companies. It is said that as many as thirty-five sawmills were operating in the county in 1902. The lumber industry grew with the coming of the railroads at the turn of the century. The lumber boom continued until the 1920s. In 1901 Mississippi County added a second county seat. After a hotly contested election, Blytheville won out over Manila. The turn of the century also saw state efforts to establish drainage districts to control flooding. In spite of these initiatives, the county was not spared from the floods of 1927 and 1937. Many in the western parts of the county were evacuated in 1927. In 1937, the Red Cross sent many refugees to Tennessee for the duration of the emergency.
Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Manila, Arkansas
The county provided its share of manpower to the armed forces in World War I and World War Islands. Manila’s Herman Davis, who distinguished himself with unusual feats of bravery on more than one occasion, is honored by a small state park. Blytheville was home to an Army Air Corps advanced flying school training base during World War II. It was deactivated in 1945 but in 1955, became the nucleus of Eaker Air Force Base, a part of the Air Force Tactical Air Command. Eaker Air Force Base closed in 1992.
Mississippi County is known for its duck hunting and fishing especially around Big Lake. The area featured many private sporting clubs for gentlemen hunters and railroads advertised package deals. There were also “market” sportsmen who made their living by big volume kills of ducks and fish. Today Big Lake is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
