About Miller Point

desotoDe Soto’s Discovery of the Mississippi (c. 1880) This lithograph by Kurz and Allison was based on a painting by William H. Powell. De Soto is believed to be the first European to find and cross the Mississippi River, near present day Miller Point. -The Historic New Orleans Collection

 

Welcome to Miller Point, our alluvial forest homeplace created over the eons and defined today by the Mississippi River. This place in our heart is located on the River bend which bears its name, a land of beauty and bounty which is today as it was in 1541 when Hernando Desoto found it.

Except for the all-weather road system, the footprint of man has scarcely altered this landscape of towering oaks, cottonwoods, and pecans.

In 1848 the River changed course and took a shortcut toward New Orleans, leaving a great teardrop of land encircled by what is now called Old River Lake. The Supreme Court of the United States eventually decided in 1921 that the teardrop inside the Lake remained under the sovereignty of Arkansas, even though the land inside the cutoff is located on the “Mississippi” side of the River. About 1800 of Miller Point’s 7000 acres are inside the Arkansas Old River boundary.

This history provides us with a two-state hunting season, extending our time in the woods. Although there are overlaps, the two states’ game seasons never coincide exactly; the result is a much longer season than either of the single states adopts.

Today, twenty two equity partners own Miller Point. Trophy deer, turkeys, ducks, bears and alligators make their homes here as they have for thousands of years. Now we share this wild homeplace with the forest creatures, which we are privileged to enjoy, admire and protect.
Welcome to Miller Point, our homeplace on the Great River.