page_title: Culture of Arkansas
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: Culture of Arkansas / People / Reputation of Arkansas / Origins
caption_attribution_description: The inscription reads: "Traveller...to squatter": Can you give me some refreshments and a nights lodging? Squatter: no Sir...Haven't got any room,nothing to eat (Fiddles away) Traveller: Where does this road go to? Squatter: It don't go anywhere, it stays here (still fiddling) Traveller: Why don't you play the rest of that tune? Squatter: ...Don't know it... Traveller: Here, give me the fiddle...plays
context_page_description: The culture of Arkansas is a subculture of the Southern United States that has come from blending heavy amounts of various European settlers culture with the culture of African slaves and Native Americans. Southern culture remains prominent in the rural Arkansas delta and south Arkansas. The Ozark Mountains and the Ouachita Mountains retain their historical mount. Arkansans share a history with the other southern states that includes the institution of slavery, the American Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws and segregation, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights Movement.
  On a more abstract level, Arkansas's culture can be seen and heard in its literature, music, sports, film, television and art. Arkansas is known for such authors as John Gould Fletcher, John Grisham, Charlaine Harris, and Maya Angelou; for musicians and bands such as Johnny Cash and Charlie Rich; for interest in football, hunting and fishing; for the films and television shows filmed in the state and the actors and actresses from Arkansas; and for the art created by Arkansans and inspired by the state of Arkansas.
context_section_description: The present day image of Arkansas has evolved from early diary entries written by the first visitors to the state. During the frontier period, many were exploring the new western extents of the United States and sending their findings back east. Henry Schoolcraft, George William Featherstonhaugh, and Henry Merrill were some of Arkansas's earliest detractors. Their accounts described the state as a backwater full of savages and outlaws. The travelers also commented on the self-sufficient nature and the wide range of survival skills possessed by the denizens of frontier Arkansas. This characterization was common among frontier states, but since geography prevented travelers from passing through Arkansas in subsequent years, the early commentary held in the public consciousness.
  The image continued to grow when southwestern humor publications played on the backwardsness of poor whites, especially in hill country. The most enduring icon of Arkansas's hillbilly reputation is The Arkansas Traveller, a painted depiction of a folk tale from the 1840s. The tale involves gubernatorial candidate Archibald Yell and his party of politicians becoming lost in the Ozarks on a campaign trip and resorting to asking for directions at a squatter's cabin. The man continues to play his banjo and evade the traveler's questions before feeding the party and allowing them to stay the night. Although intended to represent the divide between rich southeastern plantation Arkansas planters and the poor northwestern hill country, the meaning was twisted to represent a Northerner lost in the Ozarks on a white horse asking a backwoods Arkansan for directions. The legend continued to grow, including a play named Kit, the Arkansas Traveler and the publication of a humor journal named the Arkansaw Traveler.
caption: Famous Currier and Ives lithograph of The Arkansas Traveller, a major contributor to Arkansas's enduring image. Today, the painting and lithograph are housed in Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
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