Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park
battlefield in Arkansas, United States; site of a Union victory in the American Civil War (April 30, 1864)
The Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park, also known as the Jenkins' Ferry Battlefield, is a battlefield in Grant County, Arkansas. The Arkansas state park commemorates the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry fought on Saturday, April 30, 1864, during the Red River campaign of the American Civil War.
First established as a masonic park in the early 20th century, the 40-acre historic site was donated to the state of Arkansas in 1961. The American Civil War battlefield was listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as the Jenkins' Ferry Battleground in 1970 and is part of the Camden Expedition Sites National Historic Landmark, a U.S. National Historic Landmark District contributing property, in 1994.
Description and administrative history
The Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park, operated by the Division of State Parks of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage, and Tourism, includes historic markers that describe the battle, as well as recreational opportunities on the Saline River, including swimming and boating. A pavilion and several picnic sites are also located in the state park, which is 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Sheridan, and 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Leola in Grant County on the west side of Highway 46.
The park is set in a bend of the Saline River, which generally flows northwest to southeast, meandering southwest at this point. It has picnic tables and fire pits, and a basic public toilet, as well as interpretive signs explaining the region's historical significance. It includes a portion of the antebellum Little Rock and Camden road and the eastern end of the old Jenkins' Ferry crossing.
Established as a masonic park in the early 20th century, Act 10 of 1961 of the State of Arkansas authorized transfer of the landscaped 40 acre tract commemorating the Battle of Jankins' Ferry to the Arkansas Publicity and Parks Commission.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park” as battlefield in Arkansas, United States; site of a Union victory in the American Civil War (April 30, 1864). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as battlefield in Arkansas, United States; site of a Union victory in the American Civil War (April 30, 1864). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6177554. Authority coordinates are 34.213, -92.547. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1864, 1961, 1970 and 1994.
Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
- Locating named record creators
Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park primary sources, Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park archive and Jenkins' research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park”?
- Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
- Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jenkins' Ferry Battleground State Park” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.