The History of Shirley
Hunting Grounds of The Osage
According to the oral traditions of the Osage Native Americans, which are supported by archeological data, as well as historical and linguistic evidence; The Osage are members of the Dhegiha Siouan tribe whose origins can be traced back to the Ohio River Valley. Around 200 AD, the Dhegiha tribes began a centuries long migration southwest down the Ohio River Valley which continued along the converging rivers of the region. Creating settlements as they encountered river junctions, the Dhegiha eventually segregated into 5 separate tribes; the Omaha, Quapaw, Ponca, Kaw and Osage. Around 1300 AD, the Osage, having previously settled in the Cahokia/St. Louis area, migrated westward to central and western portions of Missouri maintaining settlements along what we now know as the Missouri and Osage Rivers. During this time the Osage also established hunting grounds in the northwestern portion of Arkansas, which included the land that would become the City of Shirley. By the end of the 17th century (1601 - 1700 AD), interactions with French and Spanish explorers entering the area positioned the Osage to become key players regarding economic and political affairs. However, the relationship sustained between the Osage and their Euro-American allies ended due to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. With lands both east and west of the Mississippi River being opened for settlement by the U.S. government, the Osage were eventually forced to cede their northeast Arkansas hunting grounds in the Treaty of 1808. Four subsequent treaties during the 1800s reduced the Osage indigenous homelands to the Osage Reservation in northern Oklahoma as it is known today.
The History of Settlement
Not much is recorded about the village of Settlement. All that remains to attest to its existence is the Settlement Cemetery and neighboring Settlement Church located in the valley just south of Weaver Creek on Hwy 16. However, in 1957, then community member Glenn Hackett took it upon himself to gather the last traces of this little village through government documents and personal interviews with the elders of the community. This was submitted by Hackett in the form of a research paper to the Arkansas State Teachers College. The following is a summary of his work.
Early white settlers were attracted to the Middle Fork area by clear springs, various species of wild game, and alluvial soil built up by streams flowing through the area. Between 1865 and 1870, the names of only 37 tax payers were listed as living in the Shirley area currently located in Union Township. These were scattered all over the township but were mainly located on the creeks and river bottoms. 1869 to 1870 tax records showed that those living in the area subsisted mainly on an agricultural economy. The majority of produce and livestock being utilized to sustain the family, while any surplus was taken to the nearest market in Morrilton or Little Rock. Elizabeth "Granny" Sowell, who was known to have lived in a large log house where the town of Settlement would later be established, was recorded to have owned 3 horses, 7 sheep, 40 hogs, and 18 cattle. Although there is no information as to the growth and establishment of Settlement, by the time news of the incoming railroad was posted in the Arkansas Gazette on August 1906, the village already boasted a bank (capitol $25,000), post office, barber shop, blacksmith, cotton gin, and four general stores. Other businesses just outside of the village consisted of a saw mill, grist mill and cloth making looms in the home of the Weavers who lived on Weaver Creek. While the construction of the new railroad through Settlement was greeted with mixed feelings, it was the high mountains on the southern side of the Middle Fork that led to the decision to place the railroad station north of the river, thus changing the future of Settlement.
The Establishment of Shirley, 1911
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Original Architecture
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