Editing Clark County, Arkansas (section)

==History==
Ancient [[Indigenous peoples]] occupied areas along the waterways for thousands of years prior to European exploration. Among the various cultures was the [[Caddoan Mississippian culture]], which developed by 1000 AD and occupied certain sites in Arkansas at different times. This was the westernmost expression of the [[Mississippian culture]], which developed a vast network and numerous centers of development throughout the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi Valley]] and its tributaries. The Caddoans constructed substantial earthwork mounds in the areas of Arkansas and Texas; the largest in Arkansas is [[Battle Mound Site]], built from 1200 to 1400 AD in what is present-day Lafayette County. Archeological evidence has established there was unbroken continuity from the Caddoan Mississippian people to the historic [[Caddo people]] and related Caddo-language speakers who encountered the first Europeans. Their descendants formed the modern [[Caddo Nation]] of Oklahoma.<ref name=TejasLinguistics>{{Cite web | url= http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/tejas/fundamentals/languages.html | title= Tejas-Caddo Fundamentals-Caddoan Languages and Peoples | access-date= February 4, 2010 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100310203249/http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/tejas/fundamentals/languages.html | archive-date= March 10, 2010 | url-status= live }}</ref>

===19th century===
Settlers in the 19th century found earthwork [[Mound Builders|mounds]], 10 to 15 feet in height, in areas around what developed as [[Arkadelphia, Arkansas]]. Some were excavated for pottery and other grave goods.<ref name="earlyhist">[http://genealogytrails.com/ark/clark/cohist.html Laura Scott Butler, "History of Clark County"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915180121/http://genealogytrails.com/ark/clark/cohist.html |date=September 15, 2016 }}, ''Publications of The Arkansas Historical Association''; Edited by John Hugh Reynolds; Vol. 1; 1906</ref>

At the time of European-American settlement after the United States acquired this territory in the [[Louisiana Purchase]] of 1803, the pioneers encountered three major Native American tribes: the [[Caddo]], who lived along the banks of the [[Caddo River]]; the [[Quapaw]] on the [[Ouachita River]], for several miles below what is now Arkadelphia; and the [[Lenape]] (known then as Delaware, who were driven to this area by European pressure from the mid-Atlantic East Coast) along the lower Ouachita to below present-day Camden. (This site had been named as ''Écore à Fabre'', after a colonial French trader Fabre.)<ref name="earlyhist"/>

Clark County was the third county formed by Americans in Arkansas, on December 15, 1818, together with [[Hempstead County, Arkansas|Hempstead]] and [[Pulaski County, Arkansas|Pulaski]] counties. The county is named after [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]], then Governor of the [[Missouri Territory]], which included present-day Arkansas. On November 1, 1833, the [[Arkansas Territory|Arkansas territorial legislature]] created [[Pike County, Arkansas|Pike County]] from western Clark County and part of northern [[Hempstead County, Arkansas|Hempstead County]]. It was named after US explorer [[Zebulon Pike]].

Arkadelphia was designated as the county seat in 1842. It became increasingly important as a hub after railroads were constructed to here that connected with numerous markets. Timber harvesting became important by the end of the century. By 1890, forest products were ranked next to agriculture in economic importance. In the 20th century, continued modern technological developments established the industry's continued importance in the county's economy.

Three of the six lynchings recorded in Clark County from 1877 to 1950<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf |title=Summary: ''Lynching in America'', 3rd edition, 2015 |access-date=October 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023063004/https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf |archive-date=October 23, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> took place in a mass event in late January 1879. An African-American man, Ben Daniels, and three of his four sons (ranging in age from 22 to 18) were arrested as suspects in an alleged robbery and assault of a white man and held in the county jail. Daniels and two of his sons were forcibly taken out of the jail by a white mob and [[Lynching in the United States|lynched]] by hanging from trees in the courthouse square, without trial. One son, believed to be Charles Daniels (22), survived for trial. He was convicted and served in prison until about 1886 or 1887.<ref name="AREnc">[http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=9242 Nancy Snell Griffith, "Arkadelphia Lynching of 1879/ aka: Lynching of Daniels Family"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023011436/http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=9242 |date=October 23, 2017 }}, ''Arkansas Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', February 11, 2016; accessed October 22, 2017</ref>