University of Arkansas at Little Rock

In 1832, when money was appropriated to repair the military road from Little Rock to Memphis, Governor John Pope, a good friend of David Rorer’s, let the contracts in segments. The segment nearest Little Rock went to Rorer, Samson Gray, and Samuel M. Rutherford. Instead of repairing the old road, they cut a new one from Robert Crittenden’s ferry along the riverbank to Rorer’s Ferry and then northeasterly toward Samson Gray’s, intersecting the old road near Wiley Beasly’s home. This gave Rorer a decided advantage because the traffic from Memphis reached his ferry first, and he offered rates at half what Crittenden had offered.

Source: Arkansas Gazette, May 21, 1967.