II. HISTORY OF THE SUBJECT LOTS--1804-66

B. Typical Structures
1. Arkansas Post in 1793
As yet it has been impossible to secure a description of the building or buildings occupied by Jacob Bright and Company at Post of Arkansas. We know that at the time Bright and Company purchased the square from Louis Jordella in 1804 there were improvements on the property. Jordella had engaged in the fur trade, so the improvements on the square probably consisted of a residence, skin house, and dependencies.

The buildings in all probability dated to at least 1793, when Pedro Andres Rousseau visited the Post. Rousseau, who commanded the Spanish river fleet, reached Arkansas Post aboard La Flecha on February 3. He wrote in his journal:

2. The United States Factory Buildings
Although Bright and Company did a much larger business than the United States Factory, we may assume that its facilities were similar to those rented by John Treat in 1805 and erected by him in the period 1806-1810. If anything the facilities housing Bright and Company would have been more pretentious, because in September 1805 it handled one-half the fur trade transacted at Arkansas Post.

In October 1805, Factor Treat reported that, on arrival at Post of Arkansas, he had stored his trade goods at the fort. The first place he rented for use as a factory was a house, about 30 x 15 feet, containing two rooms, and these raised about six feet off the ground. The space below the flooring had been enclosed with " square timber,” and would be used as heretofore for a skin house, it being dark and cool, and therefore well adapted to that purpose.[17]

A contract was soon executed by Treat for the construction of a factory. The frames had been cut and squared by mid-November. By mid-December 1805, he hoped the carpenters would have all the timbers ready, as well as the logs for hewing into boards and the shingles. The structure would be a single-story building, about 50 x 40 feet, with a "cellar or Skin Room below raised above the surface, otherwise in the Winter season” the room would be too damp.[18]

On July 1, 1806, Treat reported that construction of the Factory was progressing slowly. The oak framing for the story and one-half building had been cut and sawed. A large quantity of cypress logs and lumber for siding and flooring had been stockpiled, while 15,500 shingles had been rived and were on hand.

In the autumn Treat planned to erect an inexpensive building to accommodate Indians who traded at the factory during the winter. This structure could be closed in, and in the future serve as a kitchen.[19]

Work continued to drag, however, and on September 30, 1809, Treat reported that the carpenters had finally finished hand-sawing scantling and boards.[20] Before the factory and its dependencies could be completed, it was determined on May 29, 1810, to discontinue the factory at Post of Arkansas. At the time of its closing, the public improvements included:
(a) a single-story dwelling, 20 x 30 feet, with pitched roof piazzas front and rear, and roof over all. The structure was painted, had eave troughs, and was shingled. There were two bedrooms, one above and one on the piazza. There were seven windows, glazed with blinds, and two windows not glazed but shuttered. The small sitting room was finished, except for the ceiling, which had laths overhead. The kitchen had a rough floor.
(b) The storehouse and skin room had not yet been completed. It had a strong oak frame, 20 x 38 feet, and the lower or skin room had been enclosed. Materials for completing the building were on hand.
(c) In one corner of the lot was a half finished log stable.
(d) The lot was enclosed with "strong Oak posts and rails, 7 bars high."[21]

3. James Scull and Company Builds a Trading House
The death of Jacob Bright in June 1807 resulted in the liquidation of the House of Bright and Company. Before the month was over, the surviving partner Benjamin Morgan announced plans to form a new partnership with Joseph Watson and James Scull. As before, Morgan would contribute the capital, while Watson and Scull, who were residents of Arkansas Post, carried on the trade with the Indians. In advising Secretary of War Dearborn of his plans, Morgan pointed out that the license authorizing Bright and Company to trade on the Arkansas would expire in September.[22]

For reasons that are impossible to document, Watson did not join the partnership, and on November 4, 1807, Scull and Morgan signed an agreement to exploit the Indian trade on the Arkansas. The new firm would be known as James Scull and company.[23] On April 10, 1808, Scull as Morgan's agent sold at public auction the one-acre square and improvements that had belonged to Bright and Company. Having acquired two lots on the Arkansas River, Scull and Company on February 1, 1809, contracted with Daniel Mooney to build

C. The Arkansas General Assembly and Montgomery’s Tavern
Samuel Moseley, who purchased the square and improvements thereon from Bright and Company, was also involved in trade with the Indians. He used the square and structures to pursue his business. As the years passed, hunters to secure pelts and furs were compelled to push farther and farther up the Arkansas and its tributaries. Profits realized by merchants based at Post of Arkansas shrank. But with more and more whites emigrating to the region in search of cheap land, the merchants catered to the wants of the newcomers. In 1819 Moseley sold the square and improvements thereon to William Drope.[25]

Drope, a land speculator and cotton merchant, had moved into the house on the square in January 1818. He did not reside there many months before renting the property to William Montgomery and moving to Pulaski County. Montgomery converted the major building on the one-acre square into a tavern.

The Arkansas General Assembly when it was convened by Governor James Miller in February 1820, for its first session, met in two rooms rented from Montgomery. For these rooms and sundries furnished the General Assembly, Montgomery was to be paid "a sum not exceeding thirty seven dollars."[26]

As was to be expected, during the 28 months Arkansas Post was the territorial capital, Montgomery's Tavern was a place of importance. On August 5, 1820, Peter Corsey announced that henceforth on Wednesday morning he would offer a “fat Beef” for sale near Montgomery's Tavern.[27] James Scull, lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of the 4th Regiment Arkansas Militia, announced on November 16, 1820, that to facilitate the organization of the unit into companies, a muster would be held on Saturday, November 24, at Montgomery's Tavern.[28] For the purpose of selecting five persons to act as trustees of the village, an election was held on January 22, 1821, at Montgomery's.[29] William Montgomery and Smith Brown on February 10, 1821, announced that they were moving from Post of Arkansas to the mouth of White River. Persons indebted to them were asked to settle their accounts on or before February 20.[30]

Meanwhile, Benjamin F. Babcock had purchased the subject square from William Drope. Babcock did not live in Arkansas Territory, and it has been impossible to determine to whom he rented the subject property following Montgomery's departure from the Post. In 1821, before the removal of the territorial capital to Little Rock, Babcock was assessed $15 taxes on the two lots he owned in the village. The subject lots--the one-acre square and the one on which Col. Daniel Brearly was residing--were choice ones and valued at $3,000. The transfer of the capital caused a bust in the Arkansas Post real estate market. In 1823 Babcock's lots were valued at $600, and he was cited as delinquent for taxes on the subject property.[31] Babcock accordingly sold his Arkansas Post property in 1825 to Col. Frederic Notrebe.

D. Audubon Stops at Montgomery's Tavern
1. Audubon's Visit
James J. Audubon, the great ornithologist, visited Arkansas Post in mid-December 1820. Accompanied by Joseph Mason, he took passage down the Mississippi on a flatboat belonging to Jacob Aumack. On the 10th the boat tied-up at Caledonia Point, four miles above the mouth of White River. It was decided to have a look at Arkansas Post. Audubon, accompanied by Mason, Aumack, and Anthony Badley, took a skiff through the White River Cut-Off to Duval's plantation, and from there the Frenchman guided them through seven miles of "Mud & Watter to the Post."

It was 9 p.m. when, wet, weary, hungry, and muddy, they entered Montgomery's Tavern, the only one in the village. Supper was called for and served. Audubon found "Mrs. Montgomery a handsome Woman of good Manners and rather superior to those in her rank of life.”[32]

After they had eaten, Mrs. Montgomery showed the men to their quarters in a “large Building that formerly perhaps saw the great Councils of Spanish Dons." They “saw 3 Beds containing 5 men.” Audubon recalled that

The next morning, Aubudon reconnoitered the area, and pronounced Post of Arkansas "a poor, Nearly deserted Village.” While it once could have been called an agreeable small town, all that now gave it life was the “decripid Visages of the Worn out Indian Traders and a few American famillies." The site was a handsome one, "on a high Bank formerly the Edge of a Prairie, but rendered extremely sickly by the Back Neighborhood of Many Overflowing Lakes & Swamps."[34] After breakfast on the 12th, the travelers returned to the Cut-Off.

2. Archeologist Walker's Speculations
Archeologist Walker, who called the account in Audubon’s America to my attention, has pointed out from the description ...[it appears] that the tavern was composed of at least two buildings, one of which was used for dining and the other, which evidently was rather large, for sleeping. Since there may well have been a "summer kitchen" and a number of outbuildings, I would suspect that [personnel of the University of Arkansas Archeological Field School] will be dealing with quite a complex of buildings.[35]

E. Johnston and Armstrong's Store in the Territorial Period
The structure in which Johnston and Armstrong had their store in 1819 had been built a number of years before by Joseph Dardenne. The builder had lived in the house. On January 12, 1820, the subject property had been sold to Francis and Catherine Mitchell by William and Elouisa Drope.

From 1819 to November 1821, Johnston and Armstrong employed the two-story building and lot they rented from the Mitchells as a store. During the period July 4, 1820, to January 4, 1821, Territorial Secretary Robert Crittenden rented quarters in the store from Henry Armstrong. On January 4, 1821, Crittenden paid Armstrong $175 for:

In the months from January 4 to July 4, 1821, Crittenden continued to occupy rooms in the store. On July 4 he paid Armstrong $175 for:

On November 3, 1821, a new enterprise moved into the building. James Hamilton and Company announced that it had moved its place of business into the "store lately occupied by Messrs. Johnston & Armstrong.”[38]

Like Babcock, the Mitchells saw the value of their real estate skid when the territorial capital was shifted in late 1821 to Little Rock. In 1821 their real estate in the village--the lot on which Johnston and Armstrong's store was located and the lot on the west side of the cross street--was valued at $1,600. Two years later, the subject lots were listed by the county assessor at $500. In 1825 the Mitchells sold the store lot to Colonel Notrebe for $100.[39]