Chickasaws and Quapaws crossed the White River here to visit long before the first settlers. The first post office, named Chickasaw Crossing in February 1848, was soon changed to Augusta. Steamboats docked here to deliver goods and left with cotton and timber. In 1864, Union forces aboard Gunboat No. 30 engaged the Confederates. In the 1890s, Emerson and John Conner ferried stock and swimmers across the river. This area, between Augusta Bend to the south and Eldridge Bend to the north, is the highest land on the east side of the river from Batesville to its mouth. From this prime site rose the City of Augusta.