Customer Reviews

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

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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

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.

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.