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Courthouse square
Mountain Meadows Massacre Monument
Downtown Harrison ArkansasBoone County
Probably the first inhabitants of what is today Boone County were the "Bluff Dwellers", who lived in caves in the bluffs along the rivers. Later the Osage Indians, a branch of the Sioux, was the main tribe in the Ozarks and one of their larger villages is thought to have been to the east of the present site of Harrison. Other tribes familiar with the area include the Shawnee, Quapaw, and Caddo Indians.
The Cherokee arrived around 1816, but had conflicts with the Osage, which erupted into a full scale Indian war in the Ozark Mountains. By the 1830's both tribes were removed to Oklahoma by the expanding empire of the United States.
Some historians think that the Spanish explorer Hernando Desoto spent time in the area. Others feel that it is more likely that the first white men here were French hunters or trappers who followed the course of the White River.
Arkansas became United States territory with the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803. In 1836 Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state.
Boone County was not formed until after the American Civil War, on April 9, 1869, from the eastern portion of Carroll County. It became the 62nd county in the state of Arkansas. Residents originally named their county Boon, because they believed it would be a "boon" to all who settled there. The final e was added later.
Boone County, Arkansas
