Although the Yellowstone was our first scenic National Park, the honor
of being the oldest national recreation place falls to the Hot
Springs Reservation, in the mountains of central Arkansas. It was
created in 1832. Forty-six springs of hot water possessing radioactive
properties, and also some cold-water springs of curative value, are
embraced within the tract of nine hundred and twelve acres, fifty
miles west by south from the city of Little Rock. The waters flow from
the sides of Hot Springs Mountain. Rheumatism and other bodily ills
are relieved or remedied by the waters. Eleven bathhouses on the
reservation, and a dozen more within the little city of Hot Springs,
are under government regulation.
As early as 1804 the power of the waters was known to white men, and a
settlement had already begun there at that time. Tradition says that
the Indians knew of the springs long before the Spanish invasion, and
that they warred among themselves for their possession. Finally a
truce was made, and thereafter all the tribes availed themselves of
the healing waters.