Editing Harrison, Arkansas (section)

==History==
[[File:Downtown Harrison, AR Courthouse Square.jpg|thumb|right|Harrison Courthouse Square, listed in the National Register of Historic Places]]

=== Precolonial history ===
[[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] were the earliest inhabitants of the area, probably beginning with [[cliff dwelling|cliff dwellers]] who lived in caves in the bluffs along the rivers. In later times, the [[Osage Nation|Osage]], 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. The [[Shawnee]], [[Quapaw]], and [[Caddo]] people were also familiar to the area.

The [[Cherokee]] arrived around 1816 and did not get along with the Osage. This hostility erupted into a full-scale war in the Ozark Mountains. By the 1830s, both tribes were removed to [[Indian Territory]].

It is possible that the first Europeans to visit the area were some forty followers of [[Hernando de Soto]] and that they camped at a Native village on the [[White River (Arkansas)|White River]] at the mouth of Bear Creek. It is more likely that the discoverers were French hunters or trappers who followed the course of the White River.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://carrollcountyar.com/history-native-americans.php|title=Native Americans of Carroll County, AR – Arkansas Guide to Eureka Springs, Berryville, Green Forest, and more!|access-date=May 1, 2017}}</ref>

===19th century===
In early 1857, the [[Baker–Fancher party|Baker–Fancher wagon train]] assembled at Beller's Stand, south of Harrison. On September 11, 1857, approximately 120 members of this wagon train were murdered near [[Mountain Meadows massacre|Mountain Meadows]], [[Utah Territory]], by a local [[Mormons|Mormon]] militia and members of the [[Southern Paiute|Paiute]] Indian tribe. In 1955, a monument to memorialize the victims of the massacre was placed on the Harrison town square.<ref>{{citation |url=http://mountainmeadowsmassacre.com/ |title=Mountain Meadows Massacre |publisher=Mountain Meadows Massacre.com |access-date=January 16, 2011 }}</ref>

Boone County was organized in 1869, during [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]] after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. Harrison was [[plat]]ted and made the county seat. It is named after Marcus LaRue Harrison, a [[Union Army|Union]] officer who surveyed and platted the town. The town of Harrison was incorporated on March 1, 1876.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.city-data.com/city/Harrison-Arkansas.html |title=Harrison, AR |publisher=citydata.com |access-date=January 16, 2011 }}</ref>

===20th century===
====Harrison Race Riots of 1905 and 1909====
In 1905 and 1909, white race riots occurred in Harrison, which drove away black residents and established the community as one of hundreds of [[sundown town]]s in the country.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Harrison Race Riots of 1905 and 1909|date=August 13, 2014|last=Lancaster|first=Guy|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas|publisher=Central Arkansas Library System|url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/harrison-race-riots-of-1905-and-1909-3712/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPxJ_aG_B-8C&pg=PA36|title=Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism|last=Loewen|first=James|date=2005|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595586742|location=New York|pages=36–37|language=en}}</ref>

In 1901, the building of the St. Louis and North Arkansas Railroad through Harrison bolstered the local economy.<ref name="CALS Race">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Harrison Race Riots of 1905 and 1909 |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/harrison-race-riots-of-1905-and-1909-3712/ |access-date=2024-09-02 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arkansas}}</ref> Economic hardship ensued following the railroad's bankruptcy on July 1, 1905.<ref name="CALS Race" /> On October 2, 1905, a white mob breached the Harrison jail, captured two Black prisoners, drove the prisoners outside city limits, whipped them, and threatened them to leave the community.<ref name="CALS Race" /> The white mob then went to the Black community and burned their houses and fired guns at their windows with the message that they should leave the town.<ref name="CALS Race" /> At least one person, railroad worker George Richards, was murdered during the event.<ref name="CALS Race" /> Local law enforcement declined to take action to press charges for the riot.<ref name="CALS Race" />

On January 18, 1909, Charles Stinnett was arrested and charged with the rape of a white woman named Lovett.<ref name="CALS Race" /> Although Stinnett testified that he did not assault the woman and only meant to rob her, a jury sentenced him to [[Hanging|hang]] on February 26, 1909.<ref name="CALS Race" /> A mob arrived at the jail to lynch Stinnett after learning that Lovett was very ill, and the mob's presence forced many remaining Black residents out of Harrison on January 28, 1909.<ref name="CALS Race" /> Stinnett was set to be hanged on March 24, 1909, but his execution was delayed for three hours because he was drunk.<ref name="CALS Race" /> Stinnett died as a result of strangulation from a failed hanging fifteen minutes after his execution began.<ref name="CALS Race" />

====Later 20th century====
The bank robber and convicted murderer [[Henry Starr]] was in Harrison on February 18, 1921, when Starr and three companions entered the People's State Bank and robbed it of $6,000.00. During the robbery, Starr was shot by the former president of the bank, William J. Myers. Starr was carried to the [[Boone County Jail|town jail]], where he died the next morning.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-henrystarr.html |title=Henry Starr – The Cherokee Bad Boy |publisher= Legends of America |access-date=December 26, 2010}}</ref>

On May 7, 1961, heavy rain caused Crooked Creek, immediately south of the downtown business district, to flood the town square and much of the southwestern part of the city. Water levels inside buildings reached {{convert|8|ft|m|spell=in}}. Many small buildings and automobiles were swept away. According to the [[American Red Cross]], four people died, 80 percent of the town's business district was destroyed, and over 300 buildings were damaged or destroyed in losses exceeding $5.4 million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bchrs.org/collections/1961flood/index.html|title=1961 Harrison Flood|publisher=Boone County Historical & Railroad Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630190041/http://www.bchrs.org/collections/1961flood/index.html|archive-date=June 30, 2007|access-date=August 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 1962, [[Sam Walton]] opened his second [[Walmart]] store in Harrison.<ref>Vance H. Trimble, Sam Walton: The Inside Story of America's Richest Man, pp.46–64 (Dutton, 1990)</ref>

In 1982, [[Kingdom Identity Ministries]], an anti-gay [[Christian Identity]] outreach ministry identified as a [[hate group]] by the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], was founded in Harrison.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y5In7xScVbwC&q=%20kingdom+identity+ministries&pg=PA158|title=Waves of Rancor: Tuning in the Radical Right|last1=Hilliard|first1=Robert L.|last2=Keith|first2=Michael C.|date=1999|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=9780765601315|pages=158|language=en}}</ref><ref name="SPLCKIM">{{cite web|title=Kingdom Identity Ministries|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/kingdom-identity-ministries|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|access-date=August 22, 2017}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Peace March Harrison AR.jpg|thumb|Peace March in Harrison in 2017]]

Harrison's Community Task Force on Race Relations<ref name="npr">{{cite news |last=Morris |first=Frank |date=May 12, 2014 |title=Tale Of Two Billboards: An Ozark Town's Struggle To Unseat Hate |publisher=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/05/12/311107696/tale-of-two-billboards-an-ozark-towns-struggle-to-unseat-hate |access-date=September 7, 2019}}</ref> was established in 2003 to "promote diversity and respond to racial-bias accusations against the city".<ref name="ArkO">{{Cite web|url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/aug/11/wikipedia-entries-won-t-let-harrison-sh/|title=Wikipedia entries won't let Harrison shed unsavory past|last=Bowden|first=Bill|date=August 11, 2019|website=Arkansas Online|language=en|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref> City officials have made efforts to counteract organized racist activity with educational forums and billboards promoting tolerance.<ref name="Vice">{{Cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-kkk-embraces-diversity-in-harrison-arkansas/|title=The KKK Embraces Diversity in Harrison, Arkansas|last=Rugh|first=Peter|date=March 11, 2014|work=Vice|access-date=February 20, 2018|language=en-us}}</ref> They also attempted to downplay the city's racist reputation and improve its image by editing the town's Wikipedia article.<ref name="ArkO" />

In 2014, a peace march and vigil celebrating the life and legacy of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] was held in downtown Harrison, hosted by the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arkansashomeschool.org/index.php/2014/03/07/nonviolence-youth-summit-part-10/|title=Nonviolence Youth Summit Part 10 – Education Alliance|date=March 7, 2014 |access-date=May 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxDRkToNfM8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/mxDRkToNfM8| archive-date=November 17, 2021 | url-status=live|title=Mrclean at 2nd Part of Non Violence Youth Summit March Harrison, AR|last=MrcleanMinistries|date=April 5, 2014|via=YouTube|access-date=May 1, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In December of the same year, a dedication was held for a Confederate monument in Harrison.<ref name="Monument">{{cite news |title=Monument dedication honors Arkansas Civil War soldiers |url=https://harrisondaily.com/people/monument-dedication-honors-arkansas-civil-war-soldiers/article_a95a2164-7a2f-11e4-9503-7f1e17b952d1.html |publisher=Harrison Daily Times |date=December 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111092321/http://harrisondaily.com/people/monument-dedication-honors-arkansas-civil-war-soldiers/article_a95a2164-7a2f-11e4-9503-7f1e17b952d1.html|archive-date=January 11, 2015 }}</ref>

In 2017, Mayor Dan Sherrell and Boone County Judge Robert Hathaway signed proclamations recognizing June as Confederate Heritage and History Month.<ref name="Confederate Heritage 2017">{{cite news |title=June proclaimed Confederate History and Heritage Month |url=https://harrisondaily.com/news/june-proclaimed-confederate-history-and-heritage-month/article_af0e1c12-40c2-11e7-9745-c3dc5d22fbfa.html |access-date=September 11, 2019 |date=May 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130125717/https://harrisondaily.com/news/june-proclaimed-confederate-history-and-heritage-month/article_af0e1c12-40c2-11e7-9745-c3dc5d22fbfa.html |archive-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref>

Kevin Cheri, who became the first African-American employed in the area in 1978, received death threats shortly after his arrival, which prompted him to leave the area. He returned in 2007, and in 2019 was recognized by mayor Jerry Jackson when Harrison issued its first-ever [[Black History Month]] proclamation.<ref name="black history month">{{cite web|url=https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/harrison-mayor-signs-black-history-month-proclamation/#/gallery|title=Harrison Mayor Signs Black History Month Proclamation|last=Sinett|first=Caitlin|date=February 16, 2019|website=[[KNWA-TV|KNWA]]|access-date=August 22, 2019}}</ref>

In June 2020, a group of around 300 gathered in Harrison to protest police brutality in the [[murder of George Floyd]] while 15 people armed with rifles and displaying Confederate and American flags looked on.<ref name="US News">{{cite news |title=Hundreds of George Floyd Protesters Come Out in Arkansas |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/arkansas/articles/2020-06-05/hundreds-of-george-floyd-protesters-come-out-in-arkansas |access-date=July 30, 2020 |publisher=U.S. News |date=June 5, 2020}}</ref>

<!--PLEASE NOTE: Multiple sources place Thomas Robb's KKK headquarters in nearby Zinc, Arkansas. See talk page--> 
{{As of|2023|10|post=,}} the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] has said that [[Kingdom Identity Ministries]] (founded in Harrison) has a location in the city.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hate Map |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map?state=AR |website=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=August 7, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>