Timberlands

Burial site of the first governor of Arkansas. Interpretive display, historic cemetery, and scenic views of surrounding pastures and forest.

Memorial and site of the Battle of Poison Springs, April 18, 1864. Confederates attacked a Union supply train, forcing retreat to Camden. Most notable for the Confederacy's brutal and savage mass murders of captured African American soldiers from the Union. Interpretive displays, picnic tables, and hiking trail.

The land where this American Civil War battle took place was settled by Thomas Jenkins, who started the ferry in 1815. It was run by his sons, William and John DeKalb, until 1861. The Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, the final battle in the Arkansas component of the Red River Campaign, began on April 30, 1864. Despite their disadvantaged position, Confederates launched one unorganized attack after another. This ultimately failed as the Union forces successfully crossed the swampy Saline River and escaped to the safety of Little Rock. The battle is often seen as a Pyrrhic victory for the Union troops as they had still failed at their ultimate goal of joining with General Nathaniel Banks's troops in Louisiana.