Cadron Settlement

Cadron Settlement was the first permanent european american settlement in central Arkansas was near the confluence of Cadron Creek and the Arkansas River, about five miles west of Conway . In the early 1800s, the term "Cadron Settlement" was used loosely in reference to thirty to forty white families that were scattered along the Arkansas River in the vicinity of Cadron Creek.HistoryIn 1818, an early settler and trader, John McElmurry, who had arrived before 1818, and three other investors laid out a town, Cadron, on about sixty-four acres at the mouth of the Cadron Creek. Although the original plat map of the town has not been found, historical evidence suggests that as many as fourteen blocks, each with six half-acre lots, surrounded a central square. A primary motive for the town seems to have been land speculation similar to that occurring downriver at Crystal Hill (Pulaski County) and Little Rock (Pulaski County). Ownership of the land, finally patented to McElmurry by the U.S. government in 1830, three years after his death, depended on shaky preemption rights claims as indemnification of injuries suffered in the War of 1812. As many as twenty-four lots might have been sold to no more than six families, yielding the investors as much as $1,300. But by 1823, “land fever” at Cadron was over—a half-acre lot sold for $3.50.Cadron seemed well situated for development. McElmurry had built a blockhouse to be used as a residence, tavern, and protection of his fur trading (mostly deer pelts), with Cherokee Indians living on Indian land to the northwest. A ferry crossed both the Arkansas River and Cadron Creek, and roads or trails connected Cadron to Arkansas Post (Arkansas County), St. Louis, and Hot Springs (Garland County). Weekly mail service started in 1820.