Editing Arkansas County, Arkansas (section)

===European settlement and conflict (1686–1804)===
{{Main|Arkansas Post|l1=Arkansas Post National Memorial}}
[[File:Sidney E. King - Counterattack! (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Depiction of [[Colbert raid|Colbert's raid]], the only [[American Revolutionary War]] battle fought within present-day Arkansas.]]
Arkansas Post was the site of a [[Colonialism|colonial]] [[trading post]], used for negotiating and trading with [[Tribe (Native American)|tribe]]s to the west, all of whom were allies of the [[French colonial empire|French]]. However, to the east, the [[Chickasaw]] and [[Choctaw]] were enemies of the French (the Chickasaw and Choctaw were allied to the [[British Empire|British]].) The tribe in the area who the French traded with the most were the [[Quapaw]]. On May 10, 1749, Arkansas Post was attacked by Chickasaw warriors. The Chickasaw burned the settlement, killed many men, and took women and children as captives. In response to the attack, the French moved the post to ''Ecores Rouges''.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Arkansas">{{Cite web | url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/french-explorers-and-settlers-4974/ | title=Encyclopedia of Arkansas}}</ref>

After the French were defeated in the [[French and Indian War]], [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]] was surrendered to the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]]. However, they made no effort assert actual control over the [[Louisiana (New Spain)|province]], and all Europeans present during the Spanish era were French fur traders who had simply stayed behind.<ref name="Encyclopedia of Arkansas"/>