seventy-five years of history. Some of them made only brief visits to
our scenic city while others spent several weeks and returned from year
to year. One of them who thought of Eureka Springs as an earthly
paradise was the chewing gum king, William Wrigley, Jr.
Mr. Wrigley first visited Eureka Springs in 1902 and put up at the
Thatch Hotel where he spent most of the winter. He returned in the
autumn of 1903 and spent about three months at the Chautauqua Hotel,
later moving to a cottage on Linwood Avenue. It has been said that no
greater admirer of scenic beauty ever came to the Ozarks than William
Wrigley.
His greatest pleasure was to get out on the trails on horseback with Sam
Leath, then acting as guide in charge of the Eureka Springs Bureau of
Information and the Crescent stables. A canyon five miles west of the
city was named after him for this was one of the spots he especially
enjoyed.
The chewing gum king, whose net income was $1,125,000 in 1904, took a
liking to Eureka Springs and proposed to buy all the land within a
radius of three miles of the city and make it into a public park if the
city authorities would agree to keep it policed and free from junk and
garbage. The hills and valleys were then covered with vast growths of
virgin timber which Mr. Wrigley wished to preserve. But the city
government turned him down and he went to Catalina Island, off the
California coast, where he spent millions in development. Many noted
writers such as Zane Grey and Mary Roberts Rhinehart located on the
island as a result of his project.
Another famous visitor was the landscape artist, F. S. VanNess who came
to Eureka Springs from Chicago in October, 1902. Sam Leath took him on
twenty-eight rides within two weeks, observing the splendor of the
Flaming Fall Revue, but the artist did not paint a single picture. When
Mr. Leath asked him why he did not paint he replied that the color was
beyond his reach; that it would be an insult to the Creator to try to
put it on canvas. Later, after the color had faded, he returned to the
Ozarks and Mr. Leath guided him over the same route. This time he
painted profusely, both landscapes and items of human interest. Two of
his paintings may be seen today in the lobby of the Basin Park Hotel.
One portrays a group of gamblers seated around a table, the other is
that of old Dr. Messick on his burro which was painted in November,
1902. Dr. Messick was a retired Chicago doctor who "went native" and
spent his last days living and practicing medicine in the hills near
Eureka Springs.
XXIII
HOG SCALD
Hog Scald, ten miles south of Eureka Springs is an undiscovered country,
so far as tourists are concerned, but for riches of tradition and
excellence of scenic beauty it cannot be surpassed in the Ozark
highlands. It is a land of clear, gushing springs, laughing brooks and
tumbling waterfalls; water everywhere, spilling over rocky ledges and
twisting happily through granite-lined canyons. It is a land of massive
oak, stately pine and verdant cedar, of purple grapes that cling to
broad leafed vines and red berries that tinge the cheeks of the hills
with romantic blushes. It seems a land of divine favor and it is indeed
fitting that the early pioneers of the thirties and forties found here,
in a temple not built with hands, the ideal place to worship God. Under
a giant ledge overlooking Hog Scald creek they held worship for more
than three-quarters of a century.
The sturdy people who trekked into these hills from Kentucky and
Tennessee were the salt of the earth in character. And like their
Puritan and Cavalier sires, they did not forget to give thanks to God
for the Promised Land of the Ozarks. The visitor who loiters for a
season in this Eden of beauty will realize, a little, the influence of
such an environment upon these sturdy pioneers who had their feet deeply
set in the soil of mediocrity, so far as learning is concerned, but who
saw the thumb prints of God in every work of nature.
The spacious natural shelter below Auger Falls on Hog Scald creek
attracted these settlers as a suitable place to hold religious services.
Here was an auditorium on one side of the stream with pulpit of rock for
the minister, and choir stalls for the singers, in a convenient shelter
opposite.
Between audience and minister was the immersion pool where the rites of
baptism could be administered without leaving the sanctuary. The drone
of falling water from Auger Falls was just loud enough to be the grand
piano divine, never out of tune, always doing its part to make the
service effective. When the minister prayed, these musical waters seemed
to echo, "Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he
that hath no money, come ye and buy and eat--without money and without
price."
In later years Hog Scald became an active community center. It was a
meeting place of the settlers for such activities as butchering hogs,
canning wild fruits and making sorghum molasses. The idea originated
during the Civil War when the entire valley was a Confederate camp. The
inviting springs and cozy shelters made it an ideal camp site. The
shut-ins at the elbow of the falls now called Fern Dell offered
opportunity to hem in herds of wild hogs and kill them in a cove
convenient to the butchering grounds.
Hog Scald creek secured its name from the practice of soldiers in
scalding the wild hogs in the kettle-like holes in the rocky creek bed.
The water was diverted from its regular course into these holes, which
are four or five feet deep and averaging six feet in width. The method
of heating the water to the scalding point was done by dropping hot
stones into the pits. The hogs were then immersed in the hot water until
their hides were soaked sufficiently for the removal of the hair with a
knife.
When the war ended, natives of the community continued this practice and
enlarged upon it. Families would drive many miles through the hills to
camp at Hog Scald, butchering hogs, canning wild fruits, and enjoying a
few days of social contact. And always there was church on Sunday. The
young folks might play party games on the rocks Saturday night, but the
fun ceased at midnight. Sunday was set aside for the good things of the
soul.
It has been said that the mills of the gods grind slowly, but the
results of grinding are sure. The customs of these sturdy pioneers of
the Ozark hills have borne fruit in a sober, righteous and contented
people. Who can doubt the influence of this quaint sanctuary of nature
in the lives of these hillfolks?[20]
A number of tall tales have been told about Hog Scald. An old-timer told
Vance Randolph that he lived near there in the early 1880's. He said
that there used to be a bramble thicket near the potholes, where the
road is now. "We used to get the water good and hot," he explained, "An'
throw the hogs in alive. They'd jump out a-squealin', an' run right
through them bramble bushes. The thorns would take the bristles off
slicker'n a whistle, so we didn't have to scrape 'em at all."
Another tale about Hog Scald was told to me recently. It is said to have
happened about the turn of the century. The lay of the land is pretty
rugged in the Hog Scald neighborhood and one farmer had planted corn and
pumpkins on a steep hillside above the hollow. He said he did the
planting with a shotgun, shooting the seeds into the hillside. About the
time the planting was completed one of the farmer's brood sows wandered
away and he didn't see her all that summer. When it came time to harvest
the crop that fall, the farmer climbed the hill, holding on to the corn
stalks and pumpkin vines to keep from falling. The pumpkins were so big
that it took only about a dozen to cover an acre. In pulling himself up,
he accidentally tore a pumpkin loose from its bearings and it started
rolling down the hill. At the foot of the hill it hit a low ledge of
rock and burst open. Much to the farmer's surprise, out jumped the lost
sow and thirteen pigs.
I was telling that story down in the Basin Circle Park at Eureka Springs
one day. When I got through one of the old-timers asked me if I had ever
heard of the big kettle the blacksmiths built at Eureka Springs in the
year 1901. I told him that I had never heard of it. "Well," he said, "it
was some kettle. It was so big that the men working on one side couldn't
hear the men hammering on the opposite side." I pretended to be
astonished and asked him what on earth they wanted with such a big
kettle. "Why," he said, solemn like, "to stew them Hog Scald pumpkins
in."
[Illustration: Stafford Photo
Hog Scald Falls below the pits where the pioneers did the scalding]
XXIV
BOUNTIES OF NATURE
"Never have I found a place, or a season, without beauty," wrote the
poet, Charles Erskine Scott Wood.
The scenic charm of Eureka Springs is a challenge to the poet's pen and
the artist's brush. Each season has its own style of beauty that helps
erase monotony from man's benighted world. Spring comes with myriad
flowers. The lilac and the honey suckle spill their perfumes lavishly on
the hill and in the valley. Early summer spreads a carpet of sweet peas
that have escaped from gardens in years past. A little later the white
clematis appears and wraps the whole town in beauty. Hundreds of
varieties of flowers, reflecting all the varied hues of Nature's prism,
are here from early March until late November.
The tree lover in Eureka Springs has a wealth of beauty for his
enjoyment. The elms and maples are the first heralds of spring to coax
the bees into action and open Nature's wooing season. Then comes the
sarvis, wild plum, redbud, and dogwood to add perfume and color to the
fantasia of spring. In early May the long, purple, bell-shaped flowers
of the Paulownia trees hang from bare branches.
The Paulownia or Princess tree is a native of Russia and named for the
Princess Paulownia, daughter of the Czar, Paul I, who died in 1801. Its
fruit is a green pod as large as a walnut which ripens in autumn and
bursts open in winter to loosen the feathery seeds for the wind's
dispersal. The broken pods cling to the tree until pushed off by new
growths the following season.
The Ginkgo is one of our rarest trees. We have four of them in Eureka
Springs, three on the Post Office grounds and one, a "female" tree
producing fruit, on the property adjacent to the Sweet Spring park. This
tree, of Chinese origin, is said to be the oldest tree in history.
Botanists tell us that the fern is older than the tree. The Ginkgo with
its fern-like leaves appears to be a link between the two. The fruit
matures in late summer and has an offensive odor. The seed is bitter,
but it is said that the Chinese roast them as we do peanuts and use them
for food.
Other interesting trees in Eureka Springs are the tulip with its
colorful bloom in May, the catalpas that flower in June, the magnolia
and holly which retain their green leaves throughout the year, the cedar
and pine, the mulberry with its artistic leaf, a buckeye or two, a lone
fir on the Annie House property, a "smoke tree" at "the Little House
Around the Corner," and a dozen varieties of oaks. The black gum and
hard maple wear gorgeous colors in the "Flaming Fall Revue" and have a
high rating of popularity.
XXV
"UPS AND DOWNS"
Geographically, Eureka Springs is an "up and down" town. There are no
level spots in the down-town area large enough for a baseball diamond or
a circus tent. This problem has been solved, however, by bulldozing off
the top of a mountain at the edge of town and building a stadium. We can
now play the great American game and hope for the visitation of a
circus.
The town has had its share of economic problems which it has managed to
solve satisfactorily. It has been temporarily down, but never out. One
of the first blows to the local economy of the town was the removal of
the railroad shops in 1911. This stopped an important pay roll which the
town needed to balance its economy. No other industries have been
developed to take its place.
For a number of years Eureka Springs was the outstanding watering place,
not only in Arkansas, but throughout the entire midwest, but after the
turn of the century other resorts became prominent and offered stiff
competition. New scientific discoveries for combatting disease
influenced the attitude of the people toward water as a cure-all and
many health resorts folded-up as a result of this policy. Eureka Springs
held on tenaciously but found it necessary to stress recreation along
with health in order to survive. As a combined health and pleasure
resort it weathered the depression although business was at low ebb for
a number of years. Houses were torn down and the lumber shipped to
western Kansas and other sections of the country. Crescent College
closed its doors in the early thirties and a few years later the
Crescent Hotel was discontinued. The building was bought by Norman Baker
in the late thirties and opened as a hospital. But this institution ran
into difficulties and was closed two or three years later. The Crescent,
which had been opened as a hotel in 1886, remained closed during World
War II but in 1945 Chicago business men bought the property and
remodeled the building. It opened as a hotel with Dwight Nichols as
manager in June, 1946. It is now one of the town's greatest assets.
Eureka Springs had a mild boom at the close of the war. Home-seekers
poured in, bought homes, entered into business or went into retirement.
A number of motels and other business enterprises were built and a
community began a new epoch as a resort. The population increased from a
depression low of about 1,700 to around 3,000 in 1954, counting the
suburban areas. Civic improvements included paving the streets, the
voting of bonds for revamping the sewer system, the sinking of a deep
well to secure an adequate water supply, and the erection of an ultra
modern public school building. Several of the churches of the town have
repaired their buildings, or built new additions, and improved their
facilities. Business buildings have been enlarged and improved and many
new homes built. The tourist season now opens in April and continues
until November with a few winter visitors. It is estimated that about
150,000 tourists visit Eureka Springs during the year. Some make only
brief stops, others stay two or three weeks for rest and recreation.
Eureka Springs has become a popular retirement city and the people of
this class add substantially to the town's economy, but the bulk of the
revenue is from the tourist trade. Since this business is seasonable, a
few small industries are needed to provide pay rolls and help balance
the economy. Writers, artists and craftsmen find this the ideal location
for their activities.
Eureka Springs has had its ups and downs through the years with a
leveling off toward normalcy since the mild boom following the war. With
Table Rock Dam on White River assured, and Beaver Dam farther up the
stream a possibility, the outlook for the future is bright. The town
will continue as a combined health and pleasure resort, an art and
retirement center, a literary mecca, and a haven for hobbiests. It is
developing a festival atmosphere which has the earmarks of permanency.
[Illustration: Modern public school building erected at Eureka
Springs in 1951.]
XXVI
THE STORY OF BLUE SPRING
I came, I saw, I concurred that Blue Spring is one of Mother Nature's
miracles. It was a quarter of a century ago when I first visited this
lovely spot, located seven miles northwest of Eureka Springs. Since that
time I have been a frequent visitor to this liquid giant from the
unknown.
Blue Spring is the outlet of a subterranean river with a constant flow
of about 38,000,000 gallons of pure water daily. It rises straight up
from its mysterious bed, forming a circle about seventy feet in
diameter. The depth is unknown. Soundings have been made, once in the
nineties, the old-timers say, with strong bed cord attached to a 125
pound anvil, and again near the turn of the century by a party of
engineers who let a 16 pound hammer down 512 feet. Neither weight
reached bottom. The pressure of the water was sufficient to defy
penetration into the blue depths.
The water taken from this spring is clear, white and transparent as
plate glass, but the water in the spring is blue in appearance.
Sometimes it is almost indigo in hue, but when taken out of the spring
is white and transparent. A geologist who tested the water recently
expressed the opinion that it is glacial water similar to that of Lake
Louise in the Pacific Northwest. It was the opinion of some of the
old-timers who lived near the spring that the water came from Kings
River twenty miles to the east. When this stream was on the rise, the
spring had increased flow, so they said.
Many legends have been handed down about this famous spring. One of them
is that Spanish adventurers who supposedly invaded the Ozark country in
the latter part of the eighteenth century, sunk a mine shaft at the
present location of Blue Spring. They walled the shaft with logs.
Several hundred feet down they struck an underground river and a
geyser-like eruption occurred. Then it settled down and became a
peaceful river with the old mine shaft as an outlet. The pioneer English
settlers named it Blue Spring because of the blueness of the water.
This spring was once the site of an Indian encampment, according to Sam
A. Leath who is an authority on Indian lore in the Ozarks. The cliffs
had hieroglyphics to tell the story, but most of them have been erased
by the hand of time. Numerous arrow heads and Indian relics have been
found in the vicinity. The historic "Trail of Tears" over which the
Cherokees trekked, passed near Blue Spring.
The pioneers saw economic possibilities in this vast flow of water and
built a dam a few hundred yards below the spring near where the spring
branch enters White River. A flouring and saw mill, operated by a
turbine, was built on that spot. But the mill is now gone and only the
turbine remains. Plans were once made to pipe the water to the railroad
some three miles away and ship it for drinking purposes. No analysis of
the water is available, but it is said to be soft and pure.
The dam below the spring forms a moss-lined lagoon that is a picture out
of the book. Rainbow trout sport in the crystal water to test the angler
who tempts them with his lure.
Blue Spring with its 400 acres of enchanted woodlands in a horseshoe
bend of White River is owned and operated by Mrs. Evan Booth, formerly
of Chicago. She lives in a picturesque modern cottage overlooking the
spring and lagoon and keeps the project open the year around as a
tourist attraction.
[Illustration: Blue Spring.]
XXVII
SCENIC ATTRACTIONS
One of the great attractions of Eureka Springs as a tourist resort is
its scenery. In both the city and the adjacent countryside we have folds
of hills that please the eye of the observer and captivate his fancy. "I
will look unto the hills from whence cometh my help." The hills and
hollows of the Western District of Carroll County have been a lure for
tourists for three-quarters of a century. Combined with the springs of
pure water, this scenery is perhaps our greatest asset. No where in the
Ozarks do the hills lift their flinty shoulders to the sky in more
picturesque form than in the vicinity of Eureka Springs.
This region is traversed by two crystal rivers, the White and the Kings,
and numerous smaller spring-fed streams. It is interesting to know these
streams and visualize their scenic attributes on the calendar of the
year.
The Eureka Springs country has many scenic oddities. Pivot Rock, two
miles north of town, is a natural curiosity, featured in Ripley's
"Believe It or Not." It stands 15 feet high, is 30 feet in diameter at
the top, and has a stem or base that measures about 16 inches. Nearby is
a Natural Bridge, small but perfectly formed.
In the Hog Scald country, ten miles south of Eureka Springs, and
Penitentiary Hollow, a few miles beyond, there are 16 beautiful
waterfalls, several of which are not seen by tourists because of their
isolated location. Jim Oliver's Revilo Ranch south of town is a beauty
spot in the sheltered hills which tourists enjoy. "The Narrows" and the
village of Beaver on White River provide views that are worth going to
see.
Inspiration Point, six miles west on U. S. 62, is one of the most scenic
views in the Ozarks. Other views along the Skyline Drive have similar
attraction. Blue Spring, a mile from the Point, is a beauty spot that
almost defies the pen of man to describe it. Onyx Cave is a must for the
tourist who enjoys subterranean scenery. It is located 7 miles northeast
of Eureka Springs and is open all year.
The town of Eureka Springs itself is a scenic attraction that never
grows old. The views from East Mountain, Trail's End and the top of the
Crescent Hotel on West Mountain all help add to the town's reputation as
the "Switzerland of America."
XXVIII
THE BASIN PARK HOTEL
The Daily Times-Echo of Eureka Springs on April 24, 1905, carried the
following announcement:
"The first grand opening of the Basin Park Hotel, now nearing
completion, will take place July 1, and the event promises to be one of
the grandest in the history of Eureka Springs. T. J. Brumfield, under
whose management the Hotel Wadsworth has been so successful, and who has
earned the reputation of being one of the best caterers in the South,
has been selected as manager for this splendid hostelry, which is an
assurance of a large patronage.
"This grand structure was built by W. M. Duncan and his associates, and
contains one hundred guest rooms in addition to spacious parlors and
dens.... The hotel will be conducted strictly on the European plan, in
connection with a first-class cafe on the second floor, occupying the
entire depth of the north end of the building on this floor.... A
special feature and a most attractive one is the feasible plan of easy
fire escapes, as from each story to the Basin Park reservation, back of
the hotel, iron bridges will be built so that in case of fire the entire
house, were it crowded, could be emptied in three minutes. There is
complete fire protection throughout the building, although it is
practically fire-proof.... The cost of this hotel in its entirety,
including furnishings, will exceed $50,000...."
The grand opening mentioned above took place July 1, 1905, forty-nine
years ago and the hotel has been in continuous operation since that
date. If it were built today it would cost several times as much as it
did half a century ago.
The Basin Park occupies a central position in the down-town section of
Eureka Springs and is adjacent to the Basin Circle Park which contains
the famous Basin Spring. The structure has been featured in Ripley's
"Believe It or Not" as "An eight story hotel with every floor a ground
floor." Bridge-walks at the rear of the building lead to the Basin Park
Reservation, a wooded tract owned by the city and originally containing
twenty-eight acres. The top floor contains the popular Roof Garden and
Ball Room. The hotel is strictly modern throughout with automatic
elevator and bath facilities.
The Basin Park changed ownership several times in the half-century, but
the man most closely associated with its operation through the years is
Claude A. Fuller, attorney and former mayor and congressman. The hotel
was owned and managed by Joe Parkhill, nephew of Mr. Fuller, from 1945
to 1954. Early this year it was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Pat Mathews.
Mrs. Mathews is the former Dorothy Fuller, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.
A. Fuller. The Mathews have added new furnishings and made other
improvements since assuming management.
XXIX
THE CRESCENT
Although upon a summer day,
You'll lightly turn from me away,
When autumn leaves are scattered wide,
You'll often linger by my side.
But when the snow the earth doth cover,
Then you will be my ardent lover.