sentences:  The St. Francis area was settled in the 1840s, with the early residents forming the Chalk Bluff community just northwest of the present city.The Battle of Chalk Bluff was fought here in May 1863, during the Civil War.In 1882, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway ("Cotton Belt") was constructed through the area, and the Chalk Bluff community gradually shifted southeastward to a location along the railroad tracks.