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About Lovely County

Lovely County existed on the maps for one short year, from Oct. 13, 1827 to Oct. 17, 1828. Arkansas was still a territory with statehood a few years away.

Encompassing what is now northwest Arkansas and a chunk of northeast Oklahoma, Lovely County was named for William Lewis Lovely, the government agent for the Osage and eventually the Cherokee.

The region was to be exclusively populated by native Americans, but after one year the boundaries were redrawn to accommodate white settlers, with the natives being moved west of the newly established line that would become the Arkansas/Oklahoma boundary.

According to the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, William Lovely and his wife, Persis, lived among the Cherokee on a tract of land purchased from the Osage. When William died, the Cherokee honored Persis Lovely by allowing her to remain on the land, the only white person to be granted such permission.

It is the perseverance of Persis Lovely, who endured extreme hardship amid harsh winters, scant supplies, warring tribes and diminishing comfort, that inspired the creation of this newspaper.