Eureka Springs was born
on July 4th,
1879…offspring of the
many legends and stories
of the MAGIC HEALING
SPRING of the Osage
Indians. These legends
and tales were spread
word of mouth from
Indian to traders and
trappers and explorers
who spanned the region
from the Great Lakes to
Southern Florida. The
Osage Indians were
hunters and this area
made an ideal habitat
for their lifestyle.
The heavily wooded Ozark
Mountains were rich with
wildlife for hunting and
trapping… and the Osage
made the ideal
“Guardians” for the
Magic Healing Spring.
They permitted anyone to
come to the spring to
drink and bathe and heal
- even the white man.
The area was considered
by the Osage to be
SACRED GROUND because of
the healing quality of
the waters. As such, no
form of hostility was
acceptable and weapons
were not permitted in
the area of the
springs. Fear of
antagonizing the SPIRIT
OF THE SPRING was a
strong incentive for
hospitable behavior by
all who visited the
area.
In 1854, a doctor named
Alva Jackson came to the
area on a hunting trip.
He had long heard of the
healing waters and,
although he lived in a
neighboring community,
had never really
believed the tales. He
was hunting in the area
with his son who
suffered with a chronic
eye infection. Dr.
Jackson sent the son
down the mountain to
wash his eyes in the
spring and, within three
days, the eye infection
had been cured. Dr.
Jackson began bottling
the water as “Dr.
Jackson’s Elixir”.
By the 1870’s, the
region was well known by
the white man and small
groups of health seekers
came to the area in
search of whatever cures
were needed. At that
time, a group of
approximately 400
settlers had gathered
around what we now know
as Basin Spring. The
Osage Indians had hewn
the basin out of a large
rock ages ago and the
spring flowed freely
into that basin. The
community was a
ramshackle assortment of
tents, lean-to’s and
shanties. During an
Independence Day
celebration, the idea
was proposed to
formalize the
settlement. A group of
seven wealthy
businessmen, including
Alva Jackson, calling
themselves the “Eureka
Improvement Company”
took it upon themselves
to see to the
development of this
“Health Resort”. By the
next year, the city
charter had been
formalized and the
population had grown to
15,000. By the turn of
the century, our full
time population had
grown to more than
20,000 permanent
residents.
By 1880 an elegant,
4-story hotel known as
the Perry House was
built on the site of the
healing spring. Like
most other buildings in
Eureka at that time, the
Perry House was built
completely out of wood
and by 1890 it had
fallen victim to one of
the four fires that
completely leveled
Eureka Springs to the
ground. By 1895,
William Duncan organized
the capital stock
necessary to build the
Basin Park Hotel on the
site of the former Perry
House. Following the
lead of the Crescent
Hotel, it was decided to
use our local limestone
to build the hotel. In
the ten years it took to
build the property,
Duncan overextended his
interest in the project
and bankrupt the
Citizens Bank and almost
every other investor in
the Syndicate. The
hotel finally opened in
1905. William Duncan
died in 1907 but it is
believed that he
continues to roam the
hotel in his trademark
brown suit and derby..........
Eureka Springs was born
on July 4th,
1879…offspring of the
many legends and stories
of the MAGIC HEALING
SPRING of the Osage
Indians. These legends
and tales were spread
word of mouth from
Indian to traders and
trappers and explorers
who spanned the region
from the Great Lakes to
Southern Florida. The
Osage Indians were
hunters and this area
made an ideal habitat
for their lifestyle.
The heavily wooded Ozark
Mountains were rich with
wildlife for hunting and
trapping… and the Osage
made the ideal
“Guardians” for the
Magic Healing Spring.
They permitted anyone to
come to the spring to
drink and bathe and heal
- even the white man.
The area was considered
by the Osage to be
SACRED GROUND because of
the healing quality of
the waters. As such, no
form of hostility was
acceptable and weapons
were not permitted in
the area of the
springs. Fear of
antagonizing the SPIRIT
OF THE SPRING was a
strong incentive for
hospitable behavior by
all who visited the
area.
In 1854, a doctor named
Alva Jackson came to the
area on a hunting trip.
He had long heard of the
healing waters and,
although he lived in a
neighboring community,
had never really
believed the tales. He
was hunting in the area
with his son who
suffered with a chronic
eye infection. Dr.
Jackson sent the son
down the mountain to
wash his eyes in the
spring and, within three
days, the eye infection
had been cured. Dr.
Jackson began bottling
the water as “Dr.
Jackson’s Elixir”.
By 1880 an elegant,
4-story hotel known as
the Perry House was
built on the site of the
healing spring. Like
most other buildings in
Eureka at that time, the
Perry House was built
completely out of wood
and by 1890 it had
fallen victim to one of
the four fires that
completely leveled
Eureka Springs to the
ground. By 1895,
William Duncan organized
the capital stock
necessary to build the
Basin Park Hotel on the
site of the former Perry
House. Following the
lead of the Crescent
Hotel, it was decided to
use our local limestone
to build the hotel. In
the ten years it took to
build the property,
Duncan overextended his
interest in the project
and bankrupt the
Citizens Bank and almost
every other investor in
the Syndicate. The
hotel finally opened in
1905. William Duncan
died in 1907 but it is
believed that he
continues to roam the
hotel in his trademark
brown suit and derby..........