Hot Springs National Park

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it that the first Europeans to see the springs were the Spanish explorer Hernando deSoto and his troops in 1541. French trappers, hunters, and traders became familiar with the area in the late-l7th century. In 1803 the United States acquired the area when it purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, and the very next year President Thomas Jefferson dispatched an expedition led by William Dunbar and George Hunter to explore the newly acquired springs. Their report to the President was widely publicized and stirred up interest in the "Hot Springs of the Washita."
In the years that followed, more and more people came here to soak in the waters. Soon the idea of "reserving" the springs for the Nation took root, and a proposal was submitted to the Congress. Then, in 1832, the Federal Government took the unprecedented step of setting aside four sections of land here, the first U. S. reservation made simply to protect a natural resource. Little effort was made to mark the ...

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