Passport Is Your Gateway to Arkansas's Past

Imagine it's 1803, and you're on a journey to a frontier wilderness. A land where the settlements are named Poke Bayou, Davidsonville or Arkansas Post -- where the rivers and swamps are the roads, and the alligators, bears and beavers outnumber humans.

That land is Arkansas, and that wilderness is the Louisiana Purchase. And now, with a very special Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial passport, you can visit that land all over again.

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson finalized the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France, doubling the size of the United States. The acquisition included 830,000 square miles of unmapped wilderness.

A survey of the new land began in 1815, from a point in an East Arkansas swamp at the corner of Lee, Phillips and Monroe counties. It is from this point that all land in the Louisiana Purchase was mapped - every legal description of the land west of the Mississippi depended on measurements taken from this point. Prospect K. Robbins and Joseph C. Brown conducted those surveys.

During 2003, 28 sites across the state are partnering to celebrate Arkansas's role in the Louisiana Purchase, each with special events planned to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. With your commemorative passport - available from any of the 28 "must-see" destinations - you, too, can explore the state's historical role in the most famous land deal in U.S. history. The passport is your opportunity to travel the state, enjoy its natural wonders and celebrate the historical significance of Arkansas's role in the Purchase. When your passport is stamped by all 28 venues, you'll have earned a memento to cherish for many years to come.