History Is All Around Us

Welcome back! As you may or may not know, I love to travel around the country. When it comes right down to it, Arkansas is the best place I love to travel. As a native Arkansan, I grew up hearing of stories of the people and communities in Clark County. Research into Arkansas history for me has expanded. In the last six months, I have worked to dedicate travel time to all four corners of the state.

History is all around us. I always tell my students (and others) to always look around for history. For that reason, I want to go back to Clark County, Arkansas. Morgan Cryer Sr., maybe not a well known resident of Arkadelphia but was among the earliest. Morgan and his wife, Barbara, moved to the area before his death in 1833. A native of South Carolina, he served in the American Revolution in the 6th South Carolina Regiment. Cryer owned approximately 20,000 acres of land in Clark County and additional acreage in LaFayette County. Cryer was buried in sight of the Caddo River north of Arkadelphia.

Today Morgan Cryer’s home-place and gravesite are not standing. However, if you travel Highway 7 from Arkadelphia into Caddo Valley when you reach the Caddo River bridge, you are on where the Cryer home-place was located. In a perfect example of how history is all around us, a road I traveled many times growing up in Clark County has historical ties to a patriot from the American Revolution.

Until next time, keep exploring!
Jason

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