RUMBLE OF A DISTANT DRUM: QUAPAWS & OLD WORLD NEWCOMERS, 1673-1804 [Hardcover]

MORRIS ARNOLD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

The Rumble of a Distant Drum opens in 1673 when Marquette and Jolliet sailed down the Mississippi River and found the Quapaw living in the area where the Arkansas River flowed into the Mississippi. In 1686 Henri de Tonti would found Arkansas Post in this same location. It was the first European settlement in this part of the country, established thirty years before New Orleans and eighty before St. Louis.



Morris S. Arnold draws on his many years of archival research and writing on colonial Arkansas to produce this elegant account of the cultural intersections of the French and Spanish with the native American peoples. He demonstrates that the Quapaws and Frenchmen created a highly symbiotic society in which the two disparate peoples became connected in complex and subtle ways—through intermarriage, trade, religious practice, and political/military alliances.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Arnold, United States Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit and author of Unequal Laws unto a Savage Race: European Legal Traditions in Arkansas, 1686-1836, has produced a meticulously researched monograph that focuses on the Quapaw and their relationship with both the French and, to a lesser degree, the Spanish in what was then known as Arkansas Post. It illuminates how the Quapaw and their European neighbors essentially created a New World through accommodation and acculturation. It also shows that despite the stress put on their society by the arrival of European settlers, the Quapaw succeeded in maintaining their ethnic identity. This book supersedes W. David Baird's The Quapaw Indians: A History of the Downstream People (1980) as the best book on the subject and is highly recommended for library collections focusing on Native American studies and Southern history.
-John Burch, Cumberland Coll. Lib., Williamsburg, KY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“The best book on the subject. . . . Highly recommended.”

—Library Journal

“It is indeed a pleasure to recommend a book that looks objectively at colonial diplomacy from the tribal point of view.”

—Journal of the West

“A very valuable book on one of the earliest and least known outposts of the French and Spanish empires.”

—Louisiana History



"Arnold's clear, non-polemic narrative most importantly humanizes the Quapaws, stripping away platitudes and stereotypes and giving them back their roles as complex actors in the colonial adventures of the region."

—Ann M. Early, State Archaeologist --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 230 pages
• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155728590X
• ISBN-13: 978-1557285904
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,382,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An informative contribution to Native American studies., September 8, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: RUMBLE OF A DISTANT DRUM: QUAPAWS & OLD WORLD NEWCOMERS, 1673-1804 (Hardcover)

The Rumble Of A Distant Drum is a research work on the founding, flourishing, and fall of Arkansas Post, the first European settlement (1686) in Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. Precariously perched on the banks of the lower Arkansas River, the history of the French outpost founded by Henry de Tonty presents many convincing examples of peaceful and productive coexistence and symbiotic interaction between the Quapaws and Frenchmen in five to six generations. Both culture's languages and bloods intermixed in this time span. Based on traditional archival research and also including a finely detailed interpretation of an 18th century Quapaws painted buffalo robe currently at Musee de l'Homme in Paris, The Rumble Of A Distant Drum is an elegantly written scholarly interpretive summary of Quapaw culture and history as viewed through European sources. Arnold portrays the Quapaws as rational economic actors, not stereotypic noble savages. Carefully examining all available preconceptions, Arnold posits nothing without solid foundation. He concludes that this was a biracial interrelationship of its time characterized by balance and respect despite heavy population losses (Indian) due to disease and historic racist tendencies of the Europeans. The Rumble Of A Distant Drum is a fascinating book to read as well as a great contribution to this period of Native American studies. Students of anthropology, early American art, and history of this area will be intrigued.

Nancy Lorraine, Reviewer

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make Love, Not War, July 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: RUMBLE OF A DISTANT DRUM: QUAPAWS & OLD WORLD NEWCOMERS, 1673-1804 (Hardcover)

Judge Arnold has once again illuminated the record on colonial history in the Louisiana Territory, specifically in Arkansas. In this work , he skillfully outlines the precarious balance between life and death at Arkansas Post, the remote French, then Spanish, then American garrision above the mouth of the Arkansas River as it enters the Mississippi.

The territorial commandant of the Post is a drop of colonial authority in vast ocean of Indians and unruly hunters and trappers. His ability to govern was primarily based on the annual "present" to the Quapaw Indians. This annual gift of needed gunpowder, blankets and, more often than not, rum, was critical to annual relations. A close second was a culture of routinue intermarriage of the French trappers and hunters and their Quapaw neighbors.

A second theme in the work revolves around the relationships between the colonial powers of England, France and Spain with the Quapaws, as well as other tribes. The Quapaws were decidedly francophiles and disliked the handoff of Louisiana to Spain. Therefore, the Spanish Governor in New Orleans continued to employee principally French commnadants for his Arkansas Post.

The Quapaws were in constant struggle against their foe, the Chickasaws, who lived across the Mississippi River. Backed by the British, the Chickasaws led frequent raids into Arkansas.

The book is well written, enlightening and entertaining for the serious academic and the history loving reader alike. It is well documented and is the result of significant research of orginal French and Spanish colonial archives.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Colonial Arkansas, November 23, 2010

By 

J Martin Jellinek (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rumble of a Distant Drum: The Quapaws and Old World Newcomers, 1673-1804 (Paperback)

Living on the border of Arkansas, I am deeply interested in the history of my local environs. I have read quite a bit about the Chickasaw Indians, who were rather militant and highly organized. However, I have not heard much about the Quapaws, a tribe in Southern Arkansas who were very different from the Chickasaw. Before reading this book, I had heard of the Quapaws but knew nothing about them. The Rumble of a Distant Drum opened my eyes to life in the rural backwaters where Europeans and Native Americans formed a unique relationship. The Europeans (predominantly French and Spanish) were the titular leaders. However, due to the weakness of the European community, the Native culture was allowed to remain active and shaped much of the ethos of the region. How this worked is fascinating and Morris Arnold brings this to life in his fascinating history.