ARKANSAS. 



vate land, which was entered and located in 

 pursuance of law more than thirty years ago, 

 aud held in quiet and peaceable possession un- 

 der title adverse to the Government for all that 

 period. But a few years ago the Government 

 laid claim to all the land on which the town is 

 located, and contiguous territory to the amount 

 of four sections ; and the question of title be- 

 ing carried to the Supreme Court of the United 

 States, that tribunal decided in favor of the 

 Government, and by that act disseized 5,000 

 people of the homes they had paid for, and im- 

 proved and beautified with the toil of years. 

 But Congress, in consideration of the circum- 

 stances, enacted a law on March 3, 1877, pro- 

 viding for the appointment of three Commis- 

 sioners, whose duty it should be to survey and 

 lay off in convenient tracts, parcels, and lots 

 all the land embraced in said four sections, hav- 

 ing due regard to the boundaries of existing 

 claims ; and, after laying aside as a special res- 

 ervation all the lands covering the Hot Springs, 

 to adjudicate the possessory or preemption rights 

 of rival claimants to each individual tract, par- 

 cel, or lot so surveyed and laid out by the Com- 

 missioners, who were then to fix a price on 

 each tract or lot, which the party adjudged the 

 preemption right by the Commissioners might 

 purchase. The term of the Commissioners' 

 office was limited to one year. 



On April 28, 1877, the Commissioners organ- 

 ized by the election of Hon. Aaron Cragin as 

 chairman of the Board. John Anderson was 

 appointed stenographer and clerk. They ex- 

 amined the reserve to be laid off into lots, 

 blocks, squares, streets, and alleys, and deter- 

 mined to retain control of all the medicinal wa- 

 ters for the general public, and directed that 

 all the thermal springs should be reserved from 

 sale. For the purpose of properly performing 

 the work, the engineer was authorized to make 

 a thorough topographical survey of the en- 

 tire reservation. Claimants were allowed six 

 months in which to file their claims, the ma- 

 jority of whom filed them within the last month 

 allotted to them. Rules were made to assist 

 the claimants in filing their claims, and the of- 

 fice was kept open until 12 o'clock on the night 

 of the 27th of October, 1877, being the last 

 hour that could be allowed the claimants for 

 filing petitions. During the six months 950 

 petitions were filed. The Hot Springs Moun- 

 tain, embracing the thermal springs, have been 

 laid off and reserved from sale. The boundary 

 line follows the base of the mountains, and is 

 laid out as a carriage-drive, inclosing an area 

 of 245 acres in the reserve. The Commission- 

 ers are of the opinion, from the nature and 

 character of the country, and the great impor- 

 tance of this place as a health and pleasure re- 

 sort, that a much larger tract should be re- 

 served from sale. The thermal springs all make 

 their appearance on the west side of the Hot 

 Springs Mountain, and west of the springs 

 across the valley is Whippoorwill Mountain, 

 the area of which is about 500 acres. It is un- 



available for building-lots, but is covered with 

 evergreen and other trees of beautiful foliage. 

 At the north end of the valley is the Novacu- 

 late Mountain, containing 200 acres, unavail- 

 able for building-lots. In their first report the 

 Commissioners recommended to the Govern- 

 ment the reservation of all these mountains as 

 general parks, and the donation of four lots 

 for public-school houses. The Commissioners 

 asked that their time for finishing up the work 

 be continued until June 30, 1879. By act of 

 Congress, April 20, 1832, Congress reserved 

 from entry the Hot Springs, together with four 

 sections of land. At that time the surveys 

 were not complete, nor for six years thereafter. 

 Several settlers attempted to enter the lands 

 by preemption prior to Congress surveying 

 them. Litigation continued among the claim- 

 ants for thirty years. In 1870 Congress author- 

 ized the claimants to institute suits in the Court 

 of Claims to settle the titles. The decisions 

 were adverse to them. They then appealed to 

 the Supreme Court, April 26, 1877, which also 

 decided against the claimants. A receiver was 

 then appointed to take charge of the property 

 and collect rents, and he paid to the Govern- 

 ment $5,000 in a few months. 



The Commissioners continued at work tak- 

 ing testimony in respect to claims, etc., until 

 their term of office expired, when they suspend- 

 ed operations. A few months more would have 

 been sufficient to complete the whole business. 

 At once petitions, signed by nearly every man 

 and woman in the place, were sent to Congress, 

 beseeching it to pass a supplemental act extend- 

 ing the time of the Commission long enough 

 to enable it to complete the work assigned to 

 it by the original bill. The Senate responded 

 to their appeals by passing the necessary act, 

 but the House of Representatives neglected it. 

 Finally, in the sundry civil appropriation bill, 

 an amendment was made which provided for 

 the continuance of the Commission. This passed 

 both Houses of Congress; but in the eni'oll- 

 ment of the bill, the section was left out in 

 some unexplained manner. It did not appear 

 in the bill as signed by the President, and be- 

 came a failure. Immediately on the commence- 

 ment of the subsequent session of Congress in 

 December, 1878, a committee was appointed in 

 the Senate to investigate the change in the bill 

 above mentioned. A new bill was also intro- 

 duced to provide for the same object as men- 

 tioned in the defective bill. 



A conflict of authority between the Federal 

 and State courts became very important during 

 the year. Subsequent to the war many coun- 

 ties of the State issued bonds or scrip for in- 

 ternal purposes. These have been bought up 

 by citizens of other States at nominal prices, 

 and the holders brought suits in the Federal 

 courts for their face value. More than thirty 

 counties were thus sued. In such cases the 

 Federal Court, after judgment for the plaintiff, 

 issued a mandamus ordering the taxes to be 

 levied and collected for the payment of the 



