The Arkansas Territory (initially organized as the Territory of Arkansaw) was a historic organized territory of the United States from 1819-07-04, until 1836-06-15, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the state Arkansas, the 25th U.S. state.
Arkansas Territory was created from the portion of the Missouri Territory lying south of a point on the Mississippi River at 36 degrees north latitude running west to the St. Francois River, then followed the river to 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, then west to the territorial boundary. This included all of the present state Oklahoma south of the parallel 36 degrees 30 minutes north. The westernmost portion of the territory was removed on 1824-11-15, a second westernmost portion was removed on 1828-05-06, reducing the territory to the extent of the present state of Arkansas.
Arkansas Post was the first territorial capital (1819-1821) and Little Rock was the second (1821-1836).
The remaining portion, consisting of the present states of Iowa, the Dakotas, and part of Minnesota effectively became unorganized territory after Missouri became a state. In 1834, the portion east of the Missouri River was attached to the Michigan Territory.
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