Arkansas State Musical Instrument

Fiddle

Adopted in 1985.

The fiddle was adopted as the Arkansas State Instrument by the Seventy-fifth General Assembly of 1985. Otherwise known as the violin, the instrument has been commonly associated with Arkansas folk music and culture.

The "Arkansaw Traveler," the fiddle tune that is the best-known piece of folklore associated with the state, is generally credited to Colonel Sandford "Sandy" Faulkner, a prominent Little Rock plantation owner. He claimed the story was inspired by an actual conversation with an Arkansas backwoodsman. The skit soon attained widespread popularity, aided by the play Kit, The Arkansas Traveler, which delighted New York audiences in the 1880's.