Add to ORKGJacob and Rebecca Barkman were among Clark County’s earliest residents, arriving about 1811 and constructing a cabin near the Caddo River on land acquired from the Indians. Jacob Barkman is quite well-known in the annals of Clark County history, and many have even called him the “Father of Clark County.” However, his wife’s life story is equally fascinating. Some of the earliest descriptions of Arkansas’s pioneer settlers came from travelers. One visitor whose work was widely read was geologist George William Featherstonhaugh (pronounced fan-shaw), who came to Arkansas and Clark County in the 1830s. His book about the trip, “Excursion Through the Slave States,” was published in 1844. As Featherstonhaugh traveled down the Military Road, he m...