Baring Cross Bridge News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Up until very recently, travel around and across the state of Arkansas was a difficult task.

I cannot recommend "The Cherry Pit" as fiction to anyone. As a critical consideration of Little Rock, however, Donald Harington's first novel has no equal.

Arkansas' numerous rivers and streams are among the great assets of the state today, but for much of our history those same waterways were as much hindrance as help. The lack of roads meant that rivers took on much of the responsibility for transportation, but they were great challenges to people traveling overland. Bridges, therefore, were among the most pressing infrastructure needs of 19th-century Arkansas.

Arkansas' numerous rivers and streams are among the great assets of the state today, but for much of our history those same waterways were as much hindrance as help. The lack of roads meant that rivers took on much of the responsibility for transportation, but they were great challenges to people traveling overland. Bridges, therefore, were among the most pressing infrastructure needs of 19th-century Arkansas.

Jean-Baptiste Benard de La Harpe was born into a wealthy French family known for having the finest ships in its part of the country. Born in 1683, La Harpe was one of 12 surviving children in his family and became an explorer at an early age. He served as a cavalry officer in Spain, and in 1703 departed on an exploration mission to South America.