08/25/2026
Yesterday, the Arkansas250 Commission, the City of Pine Bluff and the Quapaw Nation dedicated a historical marker on the Lake Saracen Trail in Pine Bluff. Speakers included Carlton Saffa, Mayor Vivian Flowers, ADPHT Secretary Shea Lewis, Jimmy Cunningham, Sheri Storie, and Jesse Manz McKibben, chair of the Quapaw Nation Business Committee.
In 1818 and 1824, Quapaw leaders signed treaties ceding their Arkansas lands after decades of population loss and pressure from American settlement. Forced from their Delta homelands, the Quapaw ultimately relocated to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. This marker commemorates the 1824 treaty, that was signed not far from the marker location, and the role Chief Saracen played in it.
