The Arkansas Indians, the down stream people, a branch of the Quapaw tribe, lived in Desha County. Their presence was first recorded by Marquette and Joliet, French explorers, in 1673. They were known as les Beaux Hommes. La Salle, while among them in 1682 on the south bank of the Arkansas River, claimed all the lands west of the Mississippi River for the King of France by the Right of Discovery. A great state and a noble river was named for them.