De Soto At Caddo Gap

A monument at Caddo Gap, put up by the Arkansas History Commission in 1936, marks where historians long placed Hernando de Soto's 1541 fight with the Tula, a people loosely tied to the Caddo confederacy. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas now says later historic and archaeological research puts that encounter elsewhere. A Caddo River tradition holds that the Tula rolled boulders down on the Spaniards at the gorge, but it remains a local legend. The expedition went on east toward the Mississippi, where de Soto died and his body was secretly buried in the river.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Ouachita State Park — 29 mi
  The state park on Arkansas's largest lake, built around a spring a homesteader called healing in 1875.

More markers nearby

• The Narrows on Caddo River — steps away
• The Caddo People — steps away
• The Town of Caddo Gap — steps away
• Montgomery County County Seat — 11 mi