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1700: French Catholic missionaries arrive in present-day Arkansas to convert local Natives to Christianity; most Natives continue their prior observances despite these efforts.
1717: Scottish land speculator John Law recruits French settlers for a projected colony to be built in the wilds of present-day Arkansas. Law promises a life of ease, due to deposits of gold and silver. Law is granted 87,000 acres of land near the Quapaw villages.
1721: Seventy or eighty engagés, or workmen, recruited by John Law, arrive at Arkansas Post, only to discover it long abandoned. Welcomed by local Quapaws, the settlers stay despite finding no gold or silver.
1779: After several previous relocations, Arkansas Post moves once more to the Ecores Rouges (Red Bluffs) site where it remains today.
1783: In April, Arkansas Post is attacked by a small force of Chickasaws and Englishmen led by trader James Colbert. The small Spanish garrison, commanded by Capitan Balthasar de Villiers, counterattacks and routs Colbert’s forces.
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