(Exod. ii. 3 seq.). A similar story is told of Sargon I., a king in the Valley of the Euphrates about B.C. 3800. (3) To the Ark of the Covenant (q.v.).
AR′KADEL′PHIA. A city, the county-seat of Clark County, Ark., 65 miles southwest of Little Rock, on the Ouachita River, and Saint Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad (Map: Arkansas, C 3). Arkadelphia, 300 feet above sea-level, has good natural drainage and water power. Its manufactures comprise the products of lumber and cotton mills, and foundry and machine shops. It is the site of Ouachita Baptist College and Arkadelphia Methodist College, founded 1886 and 1890, respectively, and has Baptist and Presbyterian schools for colored pupils. The charter of Arkadelphia, in effect since 1873, provides for a biennially elected mayor and a city council. Population, in 1890, 2455; in 1900, 2739.
ARKANSAS, är'kan-sa̤ (popularly known as the 'Bear State'). A south central State of the United States, bounded by Missouri on the north, the Mississippi River (which separates it from Tennessee and Mississippi) on the east, Louisiana on the south, and the Indian Territory on the west, with Texas touching the southwest corner. It is nearly square in form, each side measuring about 250 miles, and covers an area of 53,850 square miles, of which 805 square miles are water. It ranks twenty-third in size among the States of the Union.
Topography. With the exception of a few high bluffs, the eastern margin of the State is subject to inundation from the Mississippi River, causing an overflowing of the numerous lakes, bayous, and swamps. But the region to the westward attains a higher elevation, and the surface is broken by numerous ranges of hills and low mountains, which have a general trend from east to west. The mountains in the northwest are a part of the Ozark uplift, being continuous with the elevations in the Indian Territory to the west and Missouri to the north. The highest points in the State do not exceed 2800 feet. The Arkansas River bisects the State from northwest to southeast and joins the Mississippi. The White River enters the State from southwestern Missouri, flows southeast, receives the Black and Cache Rivers from the north and joins the Arkansas near its mouth. The Ouachita, Saline, and Bartholomew, tributaries of the Red River, drain the southern part of the State. The Arkansas is navigable for boats of light draught throughout its course within the State; the White for 260 miles; the Ouachita and Bartholomew each for 150 miles; the Saline, Red, and Black each for 100 miles, making a total of some 3000 miles of waterways within the State. The upper courses of the streams furnish water power.
Climate and Soil. Except in the eastern swampy districts, where malaria and other fevers are common, the climate is pleasant and healthful. The snowfall is light, and prolonged droughts are unknown. The mean rainfall for the State is 50.6 inches; at Fort Smith, 46.5 inches; at Hot Springs in the southwestern part, 63.2 inches; at Little Rock, 52.3 inches. Mean temperatures for January and July respectively are as follows: At Little Rock (central), 40.8 and 80.3 degrees; at Fort Smith (northwest), 36.1 and 80.0 degrees. The hill country of the northern part of the State has little land of agricultural value, the soil being sandy and thin; but the bottom lands, having a heavy black soil, are very productive. In the limestone regions are found much red clay and loam, the residual materials from the decomposition of the limestone. The higher lands of the Arkansas Valley, from Indian Territory to Little Rock, are composed of a dark, sandy loam. Below Little Rock a sandy, sometimes clayey, soil borders the river, and this grades toward the south into black, sandy, and 'buckshot' soils, which are the richest in the State, and which yield from 2000 to 3000 pounds of seed cotton to the acre. The bottom lands of the Red River Valley contain a black, sandy loam or a red, sticky clay called "gumbo." A yellow loam is characteristic of some of the southern counties, which are underlaid by deposits of the Tertiary Age.
Geology and Mineral Resources. A northeast line drawn from Texarkana in the southwestern corner, through Little Rock to Pocahontas in the northeast, divides the State into two parts; the northwest portion is underlain by Paleozoic rocks with a small area of Cretaceous rocks in its southernmost corner; the southeastern portion is occupied by the less consolidated rocks of Tertiary and Post-Tertiary Ages. The Paleozoic area is essentially the 'hill country;' the Tertiary district is a part of the low level, fertile Atlantic coastal plain. The oldest rocks known in the State are of the Ordovieian or Lower Silurian Age. They extend over the line from Missouri and lie on the southern flanks of the Ozark uplift, and consist of sandstones, quartzites, and limestones, the latter in the upper part of the series. They furnish good building stones, quartz sand for glassmaking, and lime. Along the southern boundary of the Ordovician formations, in the vicinity of Batesville and Cushman in Independence and Izard counties, are deposits of manganese ore which are worked to some extent, the product being shipped to steel manufacturers in the East. Another area of Ordovician rocks is found in the Ouachita Mountains west of Little Rock. In these mountains are large masses of a silicious rock, novaculite, from which are made the finest known whetstones, called in the markets "Arkansas" and "Ouachita" stones.
These whetstones are obtained in Garland, Howard, Hot Springs, Montgomery, Polk, Pulaski, and Saline counties, and their quarrying constitutes an important industry. In connection with the Ordovician rocks of the Ouachita uplift are found some deposits of manganese ore, but these are of little importance compared with those of the Batesville region. Around the edges of the Ordovician area of the northern part of the State is a narrow strip of Silurian limestone, the Saint Clair limestone, that furnishes a fine quality of pink marble useful for ornamental purposes. The Devonian formation is poorly developed. It is known as the Eureka shale and the Sylamore sandstone, but is of importance for the reason that in connection with it are found phosphate deposits which give promise of yielding valuable returns. Gold and silver have been reported in large quantities in the Ouachita Mountains, but examinations made by the State geologist have proven the reports to be erroneous or misleading, and the amount of these precious metals to be very small. Deposits of zinc blende have been opened recently in Sevier County, and
