Jenkins' Ferry State Park

In the spring of 1864, three Civil War battles took place in south central Arkansas that were part of the Union Army's Red River Campaign. The  three state historic parks commemorating these battles--Poison Springs Battleground State Park, Marks' Mills Battleground State Park, and Jenkins Ferry Battleground State Park--and the 1836 Courthouse at Historic Washington State Park, which served as Arkansas's Confederate capitol--comprise the Red River Campaign National Historic Landmark. Here at Jenkins Ferry on April 29 and 30, 1864, Union troops fought off an attack by the Confederates and, using an inflatable pontoon bridge, crossed the flooded Saline River and retreated to Little Rock. The land where this Civil War battle took place was settled by Thomas Jenkins, who started the ferry in 1815. It was run by his sons, William and John DeKalb, until the Civil War circa 1861.