The Arkansas National Guard Museum in North Little Rock unveiled a commissioned painting on Wednesday, commemorating the first documented militia muster in what is now Arkansas. The event took place at 1:30 p.m. on July 30. The painting portrays the July 10, 1780 muster at Arkansas Post, which was then part of Spanish-controlled Louisiana. Under the leadership of Commandant Balthazar de Villiers, 87 men gathered outside Fort San Carlos III and were organized into two militia companies. The museum described this event as the earliest recorded organization of militia forces in the region, predating the Arkansas National Guard's official founding in 1804. According to the museum, the muster symbolizes the beginning of a military tradition that continues today within the Arkansas National Guard. The art piece, developed through historical research and consultations with scholars and representatives of the Quapaw Nation, features a diverse group of individuals present at the time of the gathering. The painting includes Spanish, French, American, and Quapaw Nation participants, as well as civilians and Indigenous allies. The Friends of the Arkansas National Guard Museum funded the creation of the painting. The museum aims to preserve and share Arkansas's military history, with this painting providing insight into an early chapter of the state's heritage.