During the peak of the late nineteenth century tourist boom in
Eureka Springs, C.F. Ellis, M.D., published this medical account of
the spring waters. It originally appeared in the Kansas City Medical
Index in 1898.
Firm as the eternal mountains upon which nestles this "City of
Magic Waters" is the fact that since the discovery of these famous
springs, some fifteen years ago, hundreds of cures, seeming little
less than miracles, have been wrought here with the water and climate.
Though handicapped with the prevalent misconception of "worthlessness"
that attaches to Arkansas or its products, Eureka Springs is, by the
force of its many merits, quietly spreading its fame over the
continent. Its praises are not being sung by parties having corner
lots for sale, nor is it being boomed by speculators anxious to unload
their stock; but a steadily growing tide of visitors is each year
tending this way; these returning to their homes, tell their friends
of their restoration. In this quiet, unobtrusive way,
Eureka Springs has achieved a legitimate and imperishable fame.
This resort is situated in the northwest corner of the State of
Arkansas, on the crest of the Ozark Mountains, at an altitude of 2,000
feet above the sea. Surrounded on all sides for many miles by virgin
pine forests, the air is impregnated with the balsamic properties of
such a region. Within the corporate limits of the city more than forty
springs send forth their sparkling waters to refresh and cure mankind.
The springs gush forth from high up the mountain sides, and not from
the valleys.
The waters of a number of these springs have been analyzed by
analytical chemists of the highest reputation. The purity of these
waters, their wonderful solvent properties, the large quantities in
which they can be drunk, and the rapidity with which they are
eliminated, lead many careful observers to believe they perform a
large part of their work by filtering through all the tissues of the
body, literally washing out all impurities. Be that as it may, the
indisputable fact of hundreds of cures each year of seemingly almost
hopeless cases attests the merits of the water and climate. Few
resorts that have attained merited celebrity possess as many of the
natural elements necessary to the ideal health resort as Eureka
Springs. Ample supply of water, absolutely free from excess of mineral
properties, the altitude, the pure exhilarating atmosphere, the mild
and equable climate, the many days of sunshine, the perfect immunity
from malaria, and its magnificent and fascinating scenery, combine to
make it the most popular all-the-year-round health resort in America.
