the arkansas river joins the mississippi river at eastern arkansas.
the arkansas river joins the mississippi river at eastern arkansas.
where does the arkansas river join the mississippi river?
eastern arkansas
as noted above, the route from san francisco to fort smith was the same for both routes. travel time from fort smith to memphis was about the same as to st. louis. management of the route from fort smith to memphis was included in division 8. however, because of the untamed nature of the mississippi river and its arkansas tributaries in those years, the southern route necessarily utilized various alternative routes and methods of travel. at that time, there was no mississippi river bridge at memphis, and the memphis and little rock railroad ran from hopefield near present-day west memphis, arkansas only to a point 12 miles east of madison, arkansas, on the st. francis river. from there the route headed overland by stagecoach. when the arkansas river was high enough, the mail could instead travel from memphis by steamboat down the mississippi to the mouth of the arkansas river, navigate up that river to little rock, and on from there by stagecoach. when the arkansas was too low for steamboat traffic, the butterfield could take the white river to clarendon, arkansas, or des arc, arkansas, before switching to the stagecoaches. sometimes the entire route across eastern arkansas would be by stage.
butterfield overland mail
the mcclellan–kerr arkansas river navigation system diverts from the arkansas river upstream of the wilbur d. mills dam to avoid the long winding route which the lower arkansas river follows. this circuitous portion of the arkansas river between the wilbur d. mills dam and the mississippi river was historically bypassed by river vessels; early steamboats instead following a network of rivers—known as the arkansas post canal—which flowed north of the lower arkansas river and followed a shorter and more direct route to the mississippi river. when the mcclellan–kerr arkansas river navigation system was constructed between 1963 and 1970, the arkansas post canal was significantly improved, while the lower arkansas river continued to be bypassed by commercial vessels.
arkansas river