The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-01-25
Ponce De Icons Fount.
SITUATION. DISCOVERY, CURATIVE POW
Err. AND TEMPERATURES. bIf .1fr

THE HOT SPRINGS OF ADMINISTRATORS
SITUATION, DISCOVERY, CURATIVE pow
Err. AND TEMPERATURES. bue .1fw
9 'nil nj -----3t ol i3gfoal
In deep, romantic gorge between two bold
and rugged spurs Of the Ozark mountains, 50
miles southwest Of Little Rock, the capital of
the State and 90 miles west of Malvern, on
the Iron Mountain railroad 1900 feet above the
sea level, lies the far-famed Hot Springs val
ley. 1t is about mile in length, scarcely a
stones throw in width, and, though crooked
as corkscrew its general course is from north
to south Through it, with many windings
and turnings, babbles a crystal brooklet, fed
by countless springs, both hot and cold, and
christened the Hot Springs creek. Far above
on either side tower the precipitous Ozarks,
vast, frowning peaks of gray and scar-seamed
stone clad in the beauty of pine and hemlock,
ivy, laurel, moss and ferns. The one on the
east side Of the creek is Hot Springs mountain,
and, from it alone, its deep-hid mysterious
laborat cries, warmed by the fires Of diyinity's
own klndling, flow all the thermal waters that
have given the region lis celebrity, and that
destines 1t yet to be the worlds greatest sani-
tarium. These springs were discovered by the
nomadic primitive races, and their sanitary
waters were used by 100 generations before the
adventurous Ponce de Leon set foot in the
western wilderness. The footprints of ages
are visible still in the rude stone formation
found on the mountain sides, rusty with the
evidences Of hoary antiquity, in the growth
strata of which may be counted 1000 years.
! When the splendor of cap-G.pse armor blazed
in the sun through the pine groves which
darkened the valley, the startled red chief and
his afflicted people, laying their diseased bod
| les in the magic waters, raised their heads like
| frightened deer and fled up the mountains
sides to hide from what they conceived the
messengers of an angry Spirit Father. Such
were the circumstances of Hsf,.
THE DISCOVERY OF HOT SPRINGS
by white men, early in the 10th century. They
found an abundance of camp implements to
Indicate that the place had been used by the
Indians for hundreds of hundreds of years-a
fact corroborated by many legends transmitted
and still preserved by the Sioux, a large por.
ton of which tribe for many years occu pied
this territory. In 1920 some Frenchmen who
were suffering principally from rheumatism
and neuralgia, contracted by exposure while
on explorations, constructed three huts beside
what was formerly known as the Big Iron
Spring, and from that time may be dated the
first white settlement about the Hot Springs.
These early visitors were cured of their ills,
and, returning to New Orleans by the Ouchita
and Mississippi rivers, they spread the fame OF
the place until, Notwithstanding it was almost
inaccessible, many others, similarly afflicted,
made the journey. These visitors necessitated
accommodations for their entertainment. The
baths were taken in troughs, roughly made
from pine-tree trunks, and every bather was
left TO his own judgment as to the manner and
length of time to remain in the water but the
results were so remarkable that a steady in
crease Of visitors continued. The number,
however, was necessarily small, as the journey
as then performed taxed the endurance of the
strongest constitution. The principal route
to the springs until 1878 was by the river and
Little Rock, from which point the stage was
taken, and IS miles of the toughest country
that ever a roadway led over had to be tray
elled by that sole means of transportations
No lady could undertake the trip, and, in con-
sequence, Hot Springs became place in which
society was promiscuous, and the accomoda-
| lions were strictly in keeping with the wild
| frontier character of the inhabitants. During
the war the town was little more than a water
| ing place on the highway, at which detach-
mants from both armies stopped for water and
short rest. Immediately at the close of the
I civil strife, Hot Springs began to grow, and
the extraordinary curative properties of the
waters were heralded by a more responsible
class of visitors; such became the desire of
invalids from every part of the country to
visit the springs that more comfortable and
expeditions means of reaching the place were
an imperative necessity. LIP 1870 the st. Louis
Iron Mountain and Southern railway was pro-
jected, and, Notwithstanding the rugged and
almost impenetrable nature of the country
through which it runs the road was completed
and opened for traffic early in 1874. The
scenery along this now great southern rail
highway is picturesque beyond description,
especially ifthe trip be made during the spring
and summer months. Leaving st. Louis, for
the first 30 miles the road runs ~
ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI BANK, 'f{
on one side the broad, rushing waterway, and
on the other the precipitous bluffs with over
hanging crags apparently ready to throw their
ponderous heads into the swirling river believe
Fifty miles from St. Louis the road plunges
into the copses of Missouri, through the
marshes and dense woods, then out again to
rush past the base of forest-coYered noun
tains, with SUBMITS lofty ,bristling and austere,
past the wonderful Irish mountains, over the
leaping cascades and limpid streams of sky
blue water, from wifi, is seen the splash of
game fish, with sides glistening in the mist of
a bouquet of rainbows then dashing again
into the coVerts where broad day never enters
and the confines ofday and night are margined
by the forest. The Iron Mountain Road how
ever, does not enter Hot Springs, but forms a
junction at Malvern with the Hot Springs rail-
road, a narrow gauge road owned by Diamond
Joe" Reynolds, for which Gould offered the
snug little sum OF 81 0OO,OOO. AS the fare Is
So for 20 miles travel, and over 100000 pas
sengers are carried over the road annually
with freight at so cents per 100 one can readily
see why the offer was refused
HOW DO THE WATERS CURE?
In what consists their remedial value? What
is their potent healing principle? Here again
baffied science can only stop and shake its
head, wipe its spectacles, mutter words of pom
f derous sound-and guess. The scientists OF
both Europe and America have for many years
been involved in discussion concerning the
origin of hot springs, but all the theories ad-
vanced are but the product of inductive or de-
ductive speculation. The theory Of volcanic
and electric influence is supported by the best
evidence, and is certainly the most plausible
No two of the 70 springs are alike in compost
ton, but an analysis of the waters of them al
shows only such common ingredients as silica
lime, magnesia, soda, potassa, lithia, alumnia
manganese, sulphur, arsenic, bromine and
+ iodine. No known combination OF any or all
> of them would suffice to account for the seem
lngly miraculous cures that are daily wrought
and witnessed here. Some physicians attribute