The American Spa - Encyclopedia of Arkansas (original) (raw)

The American Spa: Hot Springs, Arkansas is 1982 work of history written by Dee Brown, author of the bestselling Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and published by Rose Publishing Company of Little Rock (Pulaski County). The book was commissioned by the Arkansas Bank and Trust Company of Hot Springs (Garland County) for the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Hot Springs Reservation (now Hot Springs National Park).

As Brown writes in his introduction, the short book is not the product of original research but is “based mainly upon research done by members of the Garland County Historical Society,” and it does not follow a chronological account but instead “is told by topics in hopes that a mixture of the years will help readers see how closely the present is related to the long ago, the recent, and only yesterday.”

It begins with an overview of Native American, Spanish and French, and then American settlement in the area, followed by the growth of the stagecoach and then railroads that allowed more travelers to visit the site. One chapter is devoted to the nature of the springs and the evolution of what is now Bathhouse Row, followed by the growth of amenities that included both health-related ventures and vice industries like gambling and horse racing. Brown devotes significant space to the violent conflict now known as the Flynn-Doran War and to later members of the mob, such as Owney Madden, who set up operations in Hot Springs.

The last two chapters cover the residents and visitors to Hot Springs; a later reprinting adds a paragraph noting the 1992 election and 1996 reelection of Bill Clinton as president of the United States. The book is illustrated by photographs drawn largely from the collections of the Garland County Historical Society and what is now the Arkansas State Archives, as well as the personal collection of Mary D. Hudgins.

In a review published in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly, W. J. Megginson of Garland County Community College (now National Park College) described The American Spa as “neither a scholarly nor a definitive account—nor does it strive to be one. Brown tells his story so smoothly that few readers may realize the enormous amount of digging yet to be done on Hot Springs’s history.” Indeed, Brown, at the beginning of the book, retells purported legends claiming that the area around the hot springs was a neutral ground where “the war hatchet [was] permanently buried between the green mountains.” Such stories had been concocted by railroad companies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Likewise, Brown claims that the springs were visited by Hernando de Soto’s expedition, a conclusion reached erroneously years earlier by John R. Fordyce, who had hoped that the town’s association with the Spanish expedition might serve as a lure for tourism.

For additional information:
Brown, Dee. The American Spa: Hot Springs, Arkansas. Little Rock: Rose Publishing Co., 1982.

Megginson, W. J. “Review of The American Spa, Hot Springs, Arkansas.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly (Summer 1983): pp. 178–180.

Staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Last updated:
October 13, 2024

"*" indicates required fields

You will lose any progress you've made on this quiz so far.

Are you sure you want to exit?