TIll' I<'ath t.'r of J\I'kalll<HS, 110;'111'1 d~' TOllti. was n n Italian hy hirth and a, I<'rt'l!l'hlllUn hy adoption, li e W:I:oI a IIlt'miJ('I' 01' II\(' I'xped lt iOIl under La Halh-. whosO;' plan it was to huild a cha in of ((}I'ts f r om th(' (ircat I .ak~'s, down tilt' I\li!'lsissippi and :l long the Gulf or ;\ Iex!co, lit' built 1<'t, ::;\. Louis whil(' 1.:1. Sall(' retUJ'lwd to I"ranc{' fo r supplies and sett];,'r!!. Then he went d own tlw river to I1)cet La Salle, b ut did not fi nd him, [n 1686 hf' built a \O,L:' ('nhin on lilt;' J\I'kalHms H,i\'t-r a f .. w mil es from ItS mouth, The fO l't ('stahlh;hed here was ('ailed Arknnsas Post, and was nOt only the fir!!t \\-hlh- settleme n t in the present lJou nd a r y of Arkansns, but also tile first In the ~"'eat Loui siana. T erritory, l'hlr.rlunr~ As a symbol of the ~pirit of Harding, as a rccord of lasting f r icndships, and hours of joy and toil; and :1S a s(')'v icc 10 OUI' Alma ~ I at('r. whose future shall uphold Ih e traditions of its past : if thc~c things ~Irc Clllbodied in Ih t., pages of this book. then our PUI'I)OSC has becn accomplished,
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