Arkansas

Early map of Arkansas showing the progress of federal surveying.

This map of Arkansas was published in a report by the General Land Office and shows the extent of public surveying as of the year prior. Text below the title describes the letters found within each township, but I’m unfamiliar with the small circles – perhaps the location of scientific measurements?

Many of the designations have to do with re-surveying; a common necessity given the difficulty of accurate measurements in the field. Difficult terrain and weather, varied survey methods, and a pressure for expediency all contributed to errors requiring correction until the start of the Civil War. Within the image, settlements are scarce and concentrated along the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers.

The antebellum slave-based economy was heavily focused on cotton and these waterways were used as major links to the cash crop markets. Note there are no railroads – this would make market access difficult for plantations in the interior and contribute to significant regional divisions. The first lines would be laid in the state in 1858, across from Memphis, Tennessee.

Bragg, Don C., and Tom Webb. “‘As False as the Black Prince of Hades’: Resurveying in Arkansas, 1849-1859.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, vol. 73, no. 3, 2014, pp. 268–292. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24477453. Accessed 8 Aug. 2020.