Keelboat Aux Arc to travel the White River in March from Batesville to Jacksonville State Park
Old Independence Regional Museum received a press release from Early Arkansas Reenactors Association about the March Keel Boat event:
For the first time in over a century a replica of a boat that brought goods to what was Poke Bayou, and now Batesville, will travel the White River from Batesville to Jacksonport State Park. The keelboat Aux Arc (pronounce Ozark) will leave riverfront park on Thursday March 22nd and arrive at Jacksonport on Friday March 23rd. The keelboat and crew will arrive at the Park on Wednesday March 21st. On Wednesday, the public is invited and welcome to view the boat and talk to the crew about their previous adventures and the role that a keelboat played in the development of North East Arkansas. The Aux Arc, built by members of the Early Arkansaw Reenactors Association (EARA), was launched in June of 2004 and has traveled numerous water ways in Arkansas, Florida, and Louisiana. The Aux Arc was built to replicate the down river voyage of the Dunbar-Hunter Expedition of 1804/05, which explored the Ouachita River to the hot springs. To that end, beginning in 2004, and yearly after that, the Aux Arc began traveling from Camden, Arkansas the Ouachita River. Traveling 80 to 100 miles each year, the Aux Arc reached the Mississippi River in 2011. Come and join us on Wednesday and then again on Thursday morning to send us off on our trip. For more information contact Ed Williams, 501-944-0736 (dr.creekwalker@gmail.com) or visit the EARA website at: earlyarkansas.com.
