In 1673, the first European explorers to travel through
the Arkansas River wilderness encountered the friendly Quapaw Indians. Nine
years later the famed La Salle Expedition landed at "La Petite
Roche," the little rock that rested along the wild banks of the
Arkansas.
Both French and Spanish expeditions followed, but
even as late as 1819, when the Arkansas territory was created, the Little Rock
area was still little more than a wilderness. The graceful bluffs of "La Petite Roche,"
did not go unnoticed for long. Little Rock became the seat of the new territorial government in
1821 and in 1831 was incorporated as a city. In 1836, Little Rock became the
capital of the state of Arkansas.
www.littlerock.com