The first highway constructed in Arkansas ran from Hopefield to Little Rock and was extended to Fort Smith and into Indian Territory, Oklahoma. Built by the United States under the supervision of the Quartermaster's Department of the United States Army, it was surveyed beginning in October 1824, and construction commenced soon thereafter for the primary purpose of transporting Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes of Indians from Mississippi to the Indian Territory, starting in 1832. Soldiers and transports for the Mexican War of 1845-1848 used this road, as did soldiers and transports during the War Between the States of 1861-1865. Pioneers also used this route to Arkansas and to the west.
