CENTURY 21 First Choice Realty

In 1719, Bernard de la Harpe
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_de_la_Harpe] led a group of French
explorers through this area and gave the river its present name. The present day
city was founded in 1885, its name derived from the nearby Poteau River
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poteau_River]. During the late 1700s, there was a
large French outpost at Belle Point (Ft. Smith). From there, they would travel
up the Poteau River to a secondary post at the base of Cavanal Mountain. Because
of this, the river was named the "Post River", or Poteau River, and the outpost
was simply called the post, or "Poteau". A group of French explorers gave the
river its present name during the early 18th Century. Poteau is a French word
meaning post.