The Story of Petit Jean.

The Story of Petit Jean.

The Arkansas river from Petit John Mountain

The state park in Arkansas where we stayed is called Petit Jean State Park.

The story starts with a young French nobleman called Chavet in the 1700s who came to explore the Louisiana territories. At that time he was engaged to be married to a young French lady Adrienne Dumont. She wanted to get married immediately so she could go with him on his trip but he refused knowing of the hardships that would lie ahead.

So secretly and without telling him, Adrienne disguised herself as a young boy and managed to get a job on the ship sailing to the Americas a a cabin boy. The crew called her Petit Jean which translated means Little John . Even Chavet did not recognize her in her clever disguise.

Another view

The ship sailed up the Mississippi and then the Arkansas river landing on the mountain in Arkansas. The friendly Indians of the area invited Chavet and the crew to spend summer at the mountain. At the end of summer the ship was readied to sale back to France and the crew boarded ready to set sail.

That night Petit Jean became deathly sick and the departure was delayed. During the course of her illness , Petit Jean's identity became known. Adrienne begged for forgiveness of her deception from Chavet and asked if she died to be buried on a grave on the mountain overlooking the river. So when she died at sunset the indians carried her back up the mountain and buried her.

The grave of Petit Jean

So the grave is still there and if you ever go to this beautiful mountain you can see it high on the mountain side overlooking the river.