All Around Arkansas: The Little Rock of Little Rock

 

             When you work the front desk of a history museum in downtown Little Rock, you get a lot of the same questions from tourists, who ask about the best place to eat downtown or whether Bill Clinton visits very much.

             But more often than not, I'd get this one: "Is there really a little rock in Little Rock?”

             Many times I wanted to say, "Why of course there’s a little rock in Little Rock; in fact, you stepped on several in the parking lot!”

             But that wouldn't be the hospitable, Arkansas thing to do. So I would always tell them the legendary tale of the Little Rock, or as the French called it, La Petit Roche.

             The story goes that in April 1722, French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bérnard de la Harpe was traveling up the Arkansas River looking for a large rock bluff that was made of pure emerald — an amazing geological wonder told to him by the Quapaw Indians he encountered along his journey.

             La Harpe and his party found the large bluff, but of course it was not made of emerald. He noted in his journal that the mostly sandstone bluff was home to a large waterfall and several slate quarries.

             La Harpe named this point “Le Rocher Français” (“The French Rock”) and took official possession in the name of France on April 9 by carving the King of France’s coat of arms on a tree at the top of the bluff. Today, that large rock formation in North Little Rock is known as Big Rock and is home to the Fort Logan Roots VA Complex, the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College and beautiful Emerald Park (I wonder how it got its name).

             Coming back downstream, and surely disappointed, la Harpe noticed on the river’s south bank a smaller rock bluff — also not made of emerald — which he called la Petit Roche, or "the little rock." The name first appeared on maps around 1799.

             La Harpe and his party explored the Arkansas River all the way to near present-day Morrilton, but turned around in May 1722 due to illness and supply problems, heading back to the Gulf of Mexico near Biloxi, Mississippi. In December 1722, the French king sent La Harpe to oversee the transfer of Pensacola, in Florida, from the French to the Spanish. Once he completed his assignment in 1723, La Harpe returned to France and died there in September 1765.

             One can visit the same little rock that La Harpe spotted some 300 years ago but it’s a bit smaller. In December 1833, the Little Rock Junction Railway Co. began construction on a railroad bridge, now known as the Junction Bridge, that required part of the little rock to be blasted away. A 4,700-pound chunk of the little rock was taken and displayed with a bronze plaque in front of Little Rock’s city hall for many years, but it's since been returned to a site near the actual little rock.

             In 2010, the city of Little Rock created the La Petite Roche Plaza in Riverfront Park to interpret the city’s history and showcase the bluff that gave the city its unusual name. The city is now planning several celebrations and activities to commemorate the 300th anniversary of la Harpe’s discovery of its namesake.

             So yes, there are many little rocks in Little Rock. But as far as we historians are concerned, there’s only one true little rock — la Petit Roche.

             A sixth-generation Arkansan, Darrell W. Brown is a lover of all things Arkansas. He served several years with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, and worked in all three divisions. He lives in Saline County with his wife, Amy, and two beloved Boston Terriers. Find him on Facebook and Instagram at AllAroundArkansas.