Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe

Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe (4 February 1683 in Saint-Malo – 26 September 1765) was a French explorer who is credited with the discovery of Little Rock, Arkansas. He was the first known French explorer to set foot in the future state of Oklahoma.

In 1718, La Harpe left France, along with 40 men, and established a trading post in April 1719 on the Red River near what is now Texarkana, Texas. This was near the center of the Caddo Confederacy. La Harpe hoped to establish trade relationships with more distant and unknown Indian tribes and, thus, on Aug 11, 1718, he set off with 9 men, including 3 Caddo guides, and 22 horses loaded with trade goods to visit a Wichita village to the northwest. (This same year, another French explorer, Claude Charles Du Tisne also journeyed west to visit a different Wichita village in Kansas.)

La Harpe followed the Red River upstream, probably to the vicinity of present-day Idabel, Oklahoma. He then turned north to cross the rugged east-west ridges of the Ouachita Mountains which rise more than one thousand feet above the intervening valleys. While in the mountains, La Harpe encountered an Osage war party and narrowly avoided a fight. He also found evidence that a "Cancey" (Apache) war party was in the area. On September 3, after 23 days of traveling, La Harpe and his party reached a large settlement. Opinions differ as to its location, but after a dig at the Lasley Vore Site in 1988, University of Tulsa anthropologist George H. Odell claimed that archaeological evidence points to it being located about 13 miles (21 km) south of Tulsa,Oklahoma near the western bank of the Arkansas River.

The settlement La Harpe visited consisted of several villages overlooking the river. He estimated the population to be 6 or 7 thousand people of whom the majority were Tawakoni. Other Wichita sub-tribes, especially the Taovaya where also present. The presence of various Wichita tribes suggests that the village was a melting pot and probably a trade center for the entire region. The Wichita gave La Harpe a friendly reception, so friendly that two Black slaves in his group wanted to stay with the Indians rather than return with La Harpe. La Harpe noted that the Wichita had horses, were excellent farmers, and that game in the area was abundant. The Wichita told him they were cannibals. While in the Wichita village, a Chickasaw trader visited. This was disturbing to La Harpe, as the Chickasaw, who lived in Mississippi, were allies of the British.

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