When was the first sighting of an ivory-billed woodpecker?

The ivory bill was extant across the South when the first people came to this country. After the Civil War, forests in the South began to disappear under the axe of Northern speculators, who bought acres of land at dirt cheap prices from desperate, impoverished landowners. This went on for years, great stands of tupelo and cypress were lost, which meant the ivorybill had no place to go. The last birds were seen in the 40's, and it was thought to be extinct for 60 years, save for a small population of the Cuban ivory bill. Then, in 2004, an ivory billed woodpecker was found in the White River swamps of Arkansas, was captured even on video. Since then, they have been located as well in the panhandle of Florida by Dr.Geoff Hill of Auburn University, and have been seen in the Carolinas and Louisianam as well.