In the late 1700s this area became a trade center because of its location on the White River near the mouth of the Black River. In 1833, Thomas Todd Tunstall piloted one of the first steamboats to venture up the White River. Soon afterward he bought land and established the town of Jacksonport. As the town prospered, this became a busy steamboat landing where boats from the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers docked year-round while stevedores loaded them with timber, bear grease, cotton bales, and wild game.