Timeline
1829 New Officials and Land Sales
President Jackson appointed John Pope, of Kentucky, Governor of the Territory. Pope had hoped to be named United States Attorney General, but accepted this position on the frontier. In an action surprising to many in Arkansas, Jackson removed Arkansas's secretary of 10 years, Robert Crittenden and replaced him with William Savin Fulton, of Alabama, a close friend and former aide of the new president.
The Congressional election found Ambrose Sevier retaining his seat with a victory over Richard Searcy.
The General Assembly authorized counties to establish public schools, but public education in Arkansas would be a long time coming. Two years earlier Congress had authorized a land grant for a "Seminary of Learning," but territorial officials paid little interest.
Public lands in the Territory continued to be sold into private hands through federal land offices in Batesville and Little Rock. Throughout the early to mid-1800s, the United States was committed to placing public property into private ownership. Not only would property be added to the tax rolls, but private land ownership was also seen as training for citizenship. Conflicts regularly arose over claims to valuable property and lawyers and surveyors proved very important in handling these disputes.
