The French Role in Arkansas.

The French including Marquette and Joliet, La Salle as well as De Tonti, had several roles in Arkansas from the 1600s to the 1780s. In 1673, Marquette and Joliet came down the Mississippi River and crossed over to the mouth of the Arkansas River. Their role in Arkansas during the 1600s was to find a route to the Orient countries, but they were not successful in finding the route. They found that the Mississippi River led …

…the rest of La Salle's surviving troops came to the Post. While he was on his journey down the Mississippi River, he came across many different Indian tribes such as a few of the Quapaw settlements, the Tourima, also known as the Omma or Imaha along the southern portion of the Mississippi River. He continued down the Mississippi River hoping to come across his traveling companion La Salle, he was not successful in finding him.