VALLEY OF THE VAPORS
Known as the Valley of the Vapors because of the mystical steam that rose from more than forty boiling springs on the side of a mountain, Hot Springs, Arkansas has been a popular destination of travelers since prehistoric times.
Native Indians from tribes far away were drawn to the sacred valley for its healing waters. They believed the waters to be a gift from the Great Spirit.
The famous Conquistador, Hernando DeSoto, is believed by many historians, to be the first white man to visit the springs. Maybe he discovered the heated springs while searching for gold in the mountains in 1541.
After the valley became American soil as a part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent two explorers, William Dunbar and George Hunter, to find the springs of early legends and study them. The explorers found steaming waters pouring from a hillside with thick mineral deposits that resembled the flowstones and stalagmites seen in limestone caverns. They had arrived there in December of 1804.
Dunbar's and Hunter's reports helped form the valley's attraction as a city of hot springs, and therefore became known as Hot Springs. Today the many springs have lost the name of "healing waters." It is no longer believed that they hold mystical healing powers.
Hot Springs offers a different kind of healing for the many that visit the city in this time of modern attractions. One of these attractions is the famous Oaklawn Park, a tradition-rich thoroughbred track dating back to 1905. The event draws many of the nation's top thoroughbreds to high-stake races such as the Arkansas Derby and the Oaklawn and Apple Blossom Handicaps.
A growing arts community is another Hot Springs attraction. The city's dozen or so world-class galleries are among the reasons art expert John Villani listed the city as ninth in the 1998 edition of his "The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America.
The Hot Springs Jazz Festival brings nationally known jazz artists to town in September. The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in October screens up to 70 non-fiction films. Poetry and other arts-related events are common throughout the year. The $34-million Hot Springs Civic and Convention Center includes a spacious auditorium for the performing arts and exhibit halls that can be used for concert and shows. They will seat up to 8000 people.
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