Thought I might as well jump in here since I have about 15 of the Desha County Historical Society program booklets. Except for a few, they are not indexed, but they contain a lot of information about the county's history. Unfortunately, they are copyrighted and can't be copied word for word, but one is allowed to quote portions of the articles without violating the copyright laws. The area in question is the northern part of the county, just above where the Arkansas River cuts across, forming what is known as Big Island. A good road map will show Yancopin just north of Watson. Yancopin is where the Missouri Pacific Railroad trains crossed the Arkansas/White River bridge on their way to Memphis. In Vol. 1, No.1 of the Society's publications, an interview of J. L. (Jim) Britt, conducted by C. C. Stuart, the Society's president at the time (1973), had this to say: "Mississippi Township is one of the original townships of the county and the site of the early Spanish settlements in the now county. Laconia Circle includes some 18,000 acres of fertile delta lands surrounded by levees to fend off flooding from the rivers. There were 16 palatial plantation homes in the township prior to the Civil War. Two of these homes still remain, they being the residences of James Thornton and P. B. Martin, which were constructed in 1833--two of the oldest residences in the county." In another article in the same volume, an interview by Jim Merritt of Mrs.Andrew Wargo, Sr., the following excerpt: "Big Island in Desha County was properly named and deserves the continued title. This site of some 25,000 to 30,000 acres is bounded by water, creating the largest island in the county. "It is located along the eastern boundary of Desha County. The Mississippi river, the boundary between the states of Arkansas and Mississippi, and the eastern boundary of Arkansas forms the eastern boundary of the island. The Arkansas river forms the west and south boundary, with the White River forming the north boundary. The area is not without form but the meanderings of the rivers have caused the pararellogram to be modified, especially along the southern part of the island. It has been described by some as an inverted parallelogram with frayed edges. "The island is some ten miles long, about six miles along the north boundary and decreasing about the middle to some three miles on the south boundary. The land is now covered with timber and vegetation and is owned generally by large timber companies who use it for timber farming. "The island abounds with wildlife, fish, and fowl native to this section. It is a sportsman paradise and on the island are many hunting camps and clubs. "...There are no public roads on the island as those located there were constructed by individuals or hunting clubs. There is no bridge or ferry to and from the island and all passage is made by private boats. "Big Island was at one time in its history fully populated and highly developed by persons engaged in general farming on a large scale, the main crops being cotton and corn. There were cotton gins on the island...The people were served by river boats plying the three rivers. Napoleon, the third county seat of Desha County, was located just west of the island...and Montgomery Point, one of the early settlements and a large commercial center of the county, was located on the north side of the river (White) at the junction of that river and the Mississippi. This landing and business center was just north of the island. At one time the greater part of the island was in Island Township." ---------- There is a hand-drawn map of this area in one of the publications, but since no attachments are allowed on this list, I'm not able to scan it and post it to the list. However, I will send one, attached to an e-mail message to anyone who wants it. So far, I haven't found any discussion of the origin of "Yancopin." Sounds like an Indian name, but maybe not. I'll keep looking for something about its origin. There's an interesting story about how the start of Napoleon's demise was caused during the Civil War by one side or the other blasting a "cutoff" so that the White River entered the Arkansas River before it empties into the Mississippi just to the north, thereby forming Big Island.. I'll dig it out and post it. Louis Reitzammer at Jackson, Tennessee <reitzamm@usit.net>