The first known residents of the area now considered Pike County were
Native Americans. The
Quapaw tribe was prominent in the area, as well as the
Kadohadacho, and Cahinnio tribes. Expeditions led by
Hernando de Soto and
Sieur de La Salle passed through the area. Around 1800, the Kadohadocho tribe migrated to
Texas to avoid further repeated attacks by the
Osage, who would venture in from the
Oklahoma area. Pike County was part of the
Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and on November 1, 1833, Pike County was created out of
Clark and
Hempstead counties by the
Arkansas territorial legislature and named after
Zebulon Pike. A
post office was established in what is now
Murfreesboro, with the town itself receiving its name from some of its first residents having originated from
Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Until it was officially named, Murfreesboro had been referred to as "Forks of the Missouri" or "Three Forks.” Much of the county's documented history was destroyed in the court house fires of 1855 and 1895. During the
Civil War, Pike County men formed two full companies for service in regiments formed in
Montgomery County, in the
Confederate Army, with the most active being the
4th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, and the county was firmly in support of the
Confederate States of America. In 1864, Murfreesboro served as a winter quarters for the Confederate regiments assigned to that area, with
Union Army regiments wintering just eighteen miles away in and around
Antoine. In 1900, Martin White Greeson, who owned property in Pike County and also owned and operated the Murfreesboro-Nashville Southwest RailRoad, began campaigning for a dam on the
Little Missouri River to alleviate flooding. It was not until 1941 that the project was approved, and construction began on June 1, 1948, and was completed on July 12, 1951. The lake created by the dam was named
Lake Greeson in Greeson's honor. In the early 20th century,
Rosboro, Arkansas was the headquarters of one of the state's most productive lumber
mills and received its name from Thomas Whitaker Rosborough, owner of the lumber company. That company, originating in Rosboro, eventually moved to
Springfield, Oregon, where today it is one of the largest forest product producers in the U.S., and it operates under the name of the "Rosboro Timber Company.” During
World War II, Murfreesboro was used as a site to house and work
German prisoners of war. Since the late 19th century, the county's main source of employment has been the timber industry. ==Geography==