GEOLOGICAL SKETCH OF THE HOT SPRINGS 

 DISTRICT, ARKANSAS. 



By WALTER HARVEY WEED, 



Geologist, United States Geological Survey. 



GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. 



The Hot Springs of Arkansas are situated in the geographical center 

 of the State, 50 miles distant from Little Rock, and about 75 miles east 

 of the Indian Territory line. A city of about 60,000 inhabitants has 

 been built up about the Hot Springs and the place is a resort for a 

 large number of visitors from all parts of the Union. The locality is 

 accessible by two railway lines which connect with the Iron Mountain 

 Railway and the Choctaw route, running through cars from the large 

 cities of the country. The location is 600 feet above sea level and lies 

 at the easterly base of the mountain complex known as the " Ouchita 

 Range," the nearby peaks of which are oftentimes called the " Ozark 

 Range," although that name really applies to the mountains in the 

 northern part of Arkansas and the southern part of Missouri. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 



The Arkansas Hot Springs have been known since the early settle- 

 ment of Louisiana. Although it is only a legend that they were vis- 

 ited by De Soto on his trip to the Mississippi, there is no doubt that 

 they were used by the Indians before the advent of Columbus, as abun- 

 dant evidence was found in early days that the Indians quarried the 

 dense rocks near the Hot Springs for arrowheads and spearheads and 

 utilized the spring waters for bathing. 



In 1804 two members of the Lewis and Clarke exploring expedition 

 visited the place and found that white visitors had already used the 

 waters for bathing. In 1818 the lands on which the springs are located 

 were ceded to the General Government by the Quapaw Indians and 

 became afterwards a part of the Territory of Arkansas. The ground 

 about the springs was located by various claimants before the organi- 

 zation of the Territory of Arkansas, but by act of Congress the springs 

 and the ground about them were reserved in 1834 for the United 

 States Government, thus making the first national park reservation 

 of the country. Owing to the claims made by various parties to a 

 private ownership of the springs they remained in the possession of 

 such claimants until the United States Supreme Court decided in favor 

 of the Government in 1877. 



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