Northwestern Counties History

November 1, 1833, by act of the Territorial Legislature, Carroll County was erected. The act reads as follows: “All that portion of the county of Izard west of a line commencing at a point on the State line of Missouri, where the range line between Ranges 16 and 17 west strikes the same, running south with said line twelve miles; thence west six miles to the range line between seventeen and eighteen; thence south with said line to the dividing ridge between Crooked Creek and the Buffalo Fork, thence a direct course to the ridge dividing the waters of the … Read more

In the spring of 1857 an emigrant train was organized in Northwestern Arkansas, and principally in Carroll County, by Capt. Alexander Fancher, and in due time set out for the journey across the plains and the Rocky Mountains to California. The Mountain Meadows massacre was a series of attacks on the Baker–Fancher emigrant wagon train at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. The attacks began on September 7 and culminated on September 11, 1857, resulting in the mass slaughter of most in the emigrant party by members of the Utah Territorial Militia from the Iron County district, together with some Southern Paiute Native Americans.

Four land offices were established in the Territory of Arkansas in 1832, that for the northwestern district being located at Fayetteville, and here the first entries for Carroll County were made. The office was subsequently removed to Clarksville and Huntsville, and in 1870 was established at Harrison. The following is a list of persons who entered land prior to 1850, and between 1850 and 1855, inclusive; where more than one entry was made by the same individual, the first in order of time is given.

There are 110 varieties of trees in Carroll County. The oak is largely represented, the principal species being the Spanish, water, black, red, burr, pine, post and white oak. The black-jack, resembling the oak in some respects, is of a scrubby nature, and is found everywhere throughout the county. The ash, elm, cherry, walnut, box-elder, sycamore, hickory, birch, maple and lino are well distributed. Pine is found in the western part of the county. Fruits, particularly apples and peaches, are here cultivated under climatic conditions more favorable. Early Mills of Carroll County Arkansas Several mills came into existence in the … Read more

William Sneed and his son, Charles Sneed, originally from Kentucky, removed from White River, near the mouth of Bear Creek, to Osage Township, in the spring of 1830. They located a claim embracing several thousand acres of the best land on Osage River. Here they had planted several acres of corn the previous spring, and were thus provided with food. They cut what was known as the old Dubuque road from Dubuque Landing, on White River, near Lead Hill; it passed through Carrollton, and thence followed an Indian trail southeast. John Boyd, one of the teamsters, is commonly given the … Read more

At the time when this county was first visited by settlers the Indian population was sparse. There was an Indian village at the site of Bellefonte, Boone County; the Delawares had a number of tepees on Long Creek, in Carroll County and their principal town was on the James River, in Stone County, Mo. The Cherokees, from Georgia, began their migration about 1832, and the bands were wont to proceed leisurely, and pause for awhile upon the borders of their western home. Several bands, numbering 300 or more, are mentioned by early settlers. They had with them large herds of … Read more

The following, with reference to the geology of the county, was compiled by David Dale Owen, State geologist: One and a-half miles southeast of Charles Hutchison’s farm the following succession was observed in a ravine: Sandstone. Chert. Light-grey limestone. The Pilot Knob, near Charles Hutchison’s, has the same general geological structure as the Boat Mountain. Four and a-half miles from Carrollton, the Archimedes limestone was observed with remains of a dark shale over it. Under this limestone comes in a sandstone, which has much the appearance of that over the grey limestone on Crooked Creek; it is not likely that … Read more

Carroll County is situated in the northwestern part of Arkansas, adjoining the State of Missouri, and in the second tier of counties from the line of Indian Territory, between Boone County on the east and Benton County on the west, with Newton County on the south and Madison on the south and southwest. It borders upon the Missouri line a distance of about thirty-five miles. The greatest length north and south is about twenty-five miles. The area is about 746 square miles, or in the vicinity of 500,000 acres. Mountains of Carroll County Arkansas The county occupies a position about … Read more