GENERAL BENJAMIN L. E. BONNEVILLE distinguished himself in the military service of the United States and also in the exploration and initial movements for the development of the great western section of our vast national domain. His name merits special honor in this history of Arkansas, for in this state he passed the closing years of his life, which came to an end at Fort Smith, Sebastian county, on the 2d of June, 1878, his remains being interred with military honors, in the city of St. Louis, Missouri.

General Bonneville was born in Paris, France, on the 14th of April, 1796, and was a member of a distinguished family, whose members were intimate friends of that of the Marquis de la Fayette. General Bonneville came with his parents to New York early in the nineteenth century, and as a youth he became a cadet in the United States Military Academy, at West Point, in which institution he was graduated, in 1815. He then entered active service in the United States army, and for several years he was stationed at various points in the far west, into which region the march of civilization had not perceptibly penetrated. Besides achieving fame as a gallant army officer General Bonneville attained to celebrity as an explorer of the great west. His journal, edited and amplified by Washington Irving, was published by that distinguished author in 1837, under the title of "Adventures of Captain Bonneville (United States Army) in the Rocky Mountains and Far West."

The most pretentious enterprise of General Bonneville was the expedition led by him in exploration of the mountain regions of Colorado. For this purpose he secured leave of absence from the army and in the year 1832, with one hundred and ten men, he started forth as leader of this historic expedition into unknown fastnesses. He and his adventurous followers were so long away from all human communication that he was considered lost, and his name was dropped from the army rolls. Upon his return, in 1836, after an absence of more than three years, he was fully restored to the army, in which he served as an officer in the Indian Territory, in the Seminole war in Florida, and in the war with Mexico. He was made a major in 1845 and in 1847 was given the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1855 he was promoted to a full colonelcy and was assigned to the department of New Mexico, in which connection he headed the famous Gila expedition. In 1861 he was retired from active service, on account of physical disability, but during the Civil war he was given charge of recruiting service and acted as disbursing officer, in Missouri. In 1865, in recognition of his long and distinguished service, he was made brevet brigadier general.

At Fort Smith, Arkansas, on the 30th of November, 1871, this gallant officer, then venerable in years, was united in marriage to Miss Sue Neis, of that city, a daughter of Anton and Catherine (Sengel) Neis, concerning whom more specific mention is made in the sketch of the career of her brother, Albert Neis, of Fort Smith, on other pages of this work. Mrs. Bonneville was born at Fort Washita, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, on the 24th of May, 1846, and she long survived her honored husband, as her death occurred at her home in Fort Smith, July 9, 1910. Soon after his marriage General Bonneville established his permanent home in Fort Smith, and here he died on the 2d of June, 1878, as has already been stated in this context.