Linda the reason that you had a large federal base 2 miles from your house was because the Union Navy couldn't use the Arkansas River to get to Little Rock, for a whole host of reasons and not just the hazards of the river itself.

One of the things that we are finding is the cause and effect of events outside of the State of Arkansas that influenced events inside the this state. For example the United states troops that came to the LR Arsenal, Totten's Artillery. That seems like a simple enough event by itself until you realize that they arrived in Little Rock 2 weeks AFTER Lincoln was elected as President of the United States. So to some it would have looked like the federal government was playing "Gunboat politics" and implying a use of force if necessary.