Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1920-10-23
STORIES OF FIRST
 SETTLER TOLD AT'
 TABLET UNWILLING
Ceremonies Held at Court House in COmmemOrati0n
 of Joseph Bonne

A bronze tablet, in honor of Jos eph Bonne, a Frenchman, and the first settler to arrive at the site of Pine Bluff, was unveiled at the court house yesterday afternoon with ap- propriate exercises. The tablet was placed there by the John McAlmont chapter of the D. A. R., and the un- Iveiling ceremonies were in charge of that society. The tablet was re- ceived by Mayor Hollis in the name of the city. Other patriotic societ- ies, school children, and alarge num- Der of others were present at the unveiling.
 The story of how Pine Bluff was founded, as we'll as a sketch of how Pine Bluff looked in it's infancy was contained in short address by Mrs. A. M. Barrow, state vice regent of the D. A. R. When Joseph Bonne came to this part of the coutry, Mrs. Barronw, said, it was a wilderness, and he had to battle with nature in the shape of forests, wild ami mals and Indians. He was a French man, but according to tradition, she stated, he had Indian blood in his veins. In 1918, she said. he became an interpreter for the United States commissioners in making a treaty with the Quapaws. The following year, she stated, Bonne came here and pitched his tent on a high bluff of the river in pine forest, situa- ted then where the court house now stands. Two years later,. he built wigwam north of where the Jefferson hotel is, and for several years after that lived alone. Later other settlers came, she said, and in 1921 there were several frame cab ins and nine log cabins in the town The most imposing, she stated, was three room house with dirt floors occupied by Joseph Bonnie and his family, and operated as an inn known as "Bonne's Tavern" Ir laying off the streets of the town she said, one street was named for Bonne, but this stree is now known as Chestnut street and at it's foot was Bonnie's Tavern. "Most of these sites have caved into the Ar kansas river," she said, "and Joseph Bonnie's body lies in an unknown grave.
 Left no Traces
 "We know so little of the early Arkansas pioneer. He wrote no book, he left no pictures to be treasured upon our walls as did the great masters. He left no music or melody to delight the ear, but he founded and defended the little port that is now our thriving, beloved city, and today we recall the hopes and fears, the discouragements and the dangers to which our first citl- zen was subjected"
 The unveiling ceremonies began with an invocation by Dr. J. l. Nor ris, and was followed by an address by Mrs. w. T. Woodbridge, regent of the John McAlmont chapter who told the purpose of the memorial A bugle salute "To The Colors" was blown by Bugler Gerhlinger of the Machine Gun Company As the sa- lute notes rang out, little Miss Anne Baarrow Truloc and Master William Noel Atkinson, young members o1 pioneer families pulled the chords attached to two American flags, and the handsome bronze tablet was re yealed as the folds of the flag droop ed apart. Addresses were made oS Mrs. Frank Tomilson, ex-state ren ept. and Mrs. c. A. Woodward, state regent of the D. A. R. The Nationa Anthem was sung as part o1 1ht ceremonies, and a flag salute was 1.;,,o,, h,, school children.