This week's Adventure Arkansas went to the literal edge of Northwest Arkansas, at a triple point where Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma meet. Have you ever wanted to be in 3 states at the same time? Sean Bailey takes us to a point on our map, and explains the history behind how our state got part of its shape.
In this week's Adventure Arkansas, we went to the absolute edge of Northwest Arkansas.
This point is one of 6 triple points in Arkansas. The three eastern points are all in the middle of the Mississippi River. Of the remaining 3 on land, the marker sitting here between Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri is the most predominant.
So how did we end up with these lines congregating here anyway?
According to a 1966 paper by the U.S. Geological survey, the Arkansas territory formed out of the Missouri territory in 1819. Arkansas' land originally included almost all of present day Oklahoma too.
After years of negotiating with Native American tribes in Oklahoma, a reduction occurred in 1828 bringing the boundaries to essentially their present location next to Fort Smith. In 1836, Arkansas officially became a state.
This marker was erected in 1915 by the Ozark Culture Club. Atop it sits the original stone marker from an 1824 survey for the Southwest corner of Missouri.
100 years later, in 2015, the tri-point does cause confusion.
Eva Parkman of Southwest City, Missouri explains, "Highway 20, Highway 43, and people are looking for other highways and they end up here." According to Parkman, being in 3 states does have one economical perk. "It's the only I know I can make a call out of state and still have it be a local call."
The triple point is just over 45 minutes from Bentonville and about an hour northwest of Fayetteville. We have a link to even more information from the USGS here.
Segment Sponsored By: Adventure Subaru
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