Sometime around 1830 Simon Sager and his family left St. Louis and headed to Arkansas via the Osage Trail. At that time St. Louis was the largest city west of the Mississippi River and beyond its borders one found mostly wilderness, vast and uncharted. Sager would settle in northwest Arkansas and build a little log cabin near a spring-fed creek that was thereafter to bear his name. Over time he explored Sager Creek to its source and discovered several springs -- some 20 to 30 separate springs, everything from a feeble chalybeate spring to a big gusher of clear calcareous water that supplied the city of Siloam Springs with pure spring water for many years. In 1844 Caldeen Gunter settled on a ridge to the north of Sager Creek and established a trading post which was heavily patronized by native Americans, mostly Cherokees, living just over the border a few thousand feet away in the Indian Territory. A few months after his arrival Gunter married Nancy Ward the daughter of Cherokee who quickly lay claim to the growing settlement which she named “Hico”, which in her native tongue meant “clear” or “sparkling water” in recognition of the many springs to be found in the vicinity. Hico consisting of two stores, a mill, boarding house and a few homes would become a prominent trading post with the Cherokee nation living just over the border. In 1850s Simon Sager sold his cabin and moved his family a short distance up the little creek and built a house near the big spring that was afterward called the Box Spring, and it was here Simon met his death. During the Civil War, nearly every home and barn would be burned to the ground. An entire division of the Union Army spent much of 1862 camped just north of Siloam Springs and repeatedly ravaged the area as they searched for food, forage and other supplies. By hunkering down, fortifying his home and posing no threat Sager was able to hold on to his home and the barest of necessities far longer than any of his neighbors; however, in the summer of 1864 Sager was lured outside by a small band of Pin Indians serving in the Union Army. They led the feeble old man a short distance away from his home and shot him in cold blood. His son Jon and two other men had been killed in an ambush by Pin Indians a couple of years earlier. Sager was laid to rest on the hill above Seven Springs. After the war the area slowly rebounded as western migration was the theme across America. Sometime around 1879 notice was given that several mineral springs in the vicinity possessed waters having medicinal properties. Soon thereafter J.V. Hargrove, a Hico merchant and former Union scout, established Siloam City on land he owned in the valley along Sager Creek. Hargrove built a general store near the creek and poured his heart and soul into the promotion Siloam City with high expectations and many promises. Siloam City not only offered health-giving water the town also appeared to be well positioned to secure a spot along the St. Louis & San Francisco (Frisco) rail line that was soon to come to area.















Testimonials were soon issued proclaiming Siloam City a health resort of high regards and within one year of its incorporation on December 22, 1881 the town’s population exceeded 2,000 people. As a correspondent remarked, “every place was running over with humanity, the most of it sight-seeing; invalids could hardly stand so much pushing”. (Fayetteville Weekly Democrat, 1881). Native Americans living just across the border in Indian Territory also found this outpost of civilization an attraction hard to resist. One visitor to Siloam Springs reports being accosted by “a crowd of lively Indians, returning to their country” and that they “rode wildly, and shot pistols continuously, and so frightened one of us that there will be no more growing at present”. The visitor reported “the noble red man roamed at will as if he were hunting buffalo” and that one evening as he “went home late some Indians rode wildly about him”. They did him no harm; nevertheless, he proclaimed “the next anniversary will teach them that there is some grip in the white man’s law, and they will be better for it”. (The Democrat, 1881). The arrest of several well-known Indians by U.S. Marshalls gave heed to those looking to raise a ruckus in Siloam Springs. Siloam City was renamed Siloam Springs to enhance its appeal as a health resort and as it prospered it drew away nearly all of Hico’s businesses away. With Hargrove’s steady promotion the city grew rapidly with promoters buying large tracts of land and subdividing them into lots to accommodate settlers and visitors swarming to the area in the belief that taking the waters would heal them from various diseases and ailments. And, with the health-seekers came many new arrivals to the city: merchants, bankers, attorneys, physicians, watch makers, printers, wheel wrights, and grocers. Every service and amenity needed for a community to prosper -- even a local distillery– could be found at Siloam Springs. There was only one thing missing: a railroad.





























Hargrove was confidant that the Frisco railroad would build a feeder line to Siloam Springs given the city’s rapid growth and long-term prospects; but, no interest was shown by Frisco nor could alternative investors be found. With no prospect for a rail line by the mid-1880s, many of transient residents who made up the town’s initial population boom began to leave and John V. Hargrove suddenly became the whipping post of the community. In 1884 Hargrove committed suicide reportedly due to financial stresses. At his funeral the pastor residing over his service chastised the people for their treatment of Hargrove asking that they at least show him kindness in death.





















By 1890, just a few hundred people remained in Siloam Springs and many of the houses and stores set empty. It seemed that in 1892 when flood destroyed much of the downtown area that the end of Siloam Springs was near. Then the news arrived: The Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad wished to build a railroad to the Gulf of Mexico and government regulations required that the railroad be built through Arkansas. Were it not so required the railroad might have never been built in northwest Arkansas. In 1893 the railroad (later reorganized as the Kansas City Southern) began extending the line south from Sulphur Springs. To ensure that the line would pass through Siloam Springs, local businessmen led by Robert S. Morris of the Bank of Siloam pledged $20,000 to the railroad, half when the first passenger train arrived and the rest six months later. They also secured land for the depot and ten miles of right of way for the track. On December 20, 1893, the railroad reached Siloam Springs setting off yet another frenzy of development and growth -- nearly every building in today’s historic downtown district was built between the arrival of the railroad in 1893 and the Great Depression. For lodging visitors had several options. To the north of Twin Springs, the two-story Lakeside Hotel (Crown Hotel) built in 1881 set on the corner of the two most important streets in town and its double-tiered porch and balconies offered a vantage point overlooking Sager Creek. Across the footbridge from Siloam Spring stood the Ewing House built in 1897 and the Ewing Annex (Park Hotel, Inn at the Springs) built in 1902. At the edge of the city park and a short stroll to Siloam Springs they were several favored boarding houses and the Fountain Hotel owned by A. J. Davis.



Further up the street closer to Twin Springs was the large Morris Hotel (Youree Hotel) with its 2nd- and 3rd story verandas offering the place to be when watching parades and festivals. Built in 1899 by R.S. Morris, Morris lost possession of the hotel in 1912 when the Bank of Springs declared insolvency. As president of the bank Morris was accused of impropriety and using bank funds for his own personal gains and he was sentenced to the penitentiary. However, with little evidence to support claims of malfeasance or personal gain Governor Donaghey pardoned the elderly banker and Morris’ brother-in-law was able to reclaim the Morris Hotel for about twenty-five cents on the dollar. A few years later Frank Youree sold his 30-acre home north of town and purchased the hotel. Fire damaged the hotel in 1970, the upper floor and verandas were removed, and the building subsequently repurposed for apartments; otherwise, the Morris Hotel survives.



















Cheap excursion rates were offered by the railroad for travelers from Fort Smith, Joplin and Kansas City and visitors disembarked daily, all summer long, when the train steamed up to the little red brick depot at the north edge of town. Those who came in search of renewed health found a delightful health resort with the principal springs gracefully landscaped and connected by parks and paved sidewalks to the downtown hotels. Springs bubble everywhere from of the banks and bed of Sager Creek and Siloam Springs was rightlfully called the "City of Fountains”. Over twenty springs have been identified but only a few were prescribed for medicinal use – chiefly Twin, Siloam, Seven, Spout and Iron Springs. Claims were made that these springs could benefit people suffering from rheumatism, indigestion, dyspepsia, constipation, gout, jaundice, asthma, neuralgia and other chronic diseases. A few of these springs emerged in public lands and were protected by small reservations and covered basins. There was a time when no stroll of the city park and green space adjoining Sager Creek was complete without visiting both Twin Springs and Siloam Springs with cup in hand. Some of the more important springs are: Twin Springs (West Spring, East Spring) These two small springs, known together as the Twin Springs -- and separately as East and West Springs -- issue from a limestone bluff on the south bank of Sager Creek. The spring boxes lie buried behind massive rockworks dating to 1880 and are nicely prepared. The initial curbing and wooden staircase were swept away and heavy damaged by a flood of 1892. The subsequent improvements included a complete reworking of Sager Creek and shoring up its outer banks with cut limestone retaining walls. The wall was extended right to the banks of Sager Creek in front of the springs to prevent them from Sager Creek in the event of a flood, and the old formidable wooden steps were replaced with railed concrete steps approaching from both the east and west. In 1885 atop the hill behind the springs the Chautauqua Association built an auditorium capable of seating over 2,500 people. As Twin Springs was in the path of anyone and everyone walking between the town center, the hotels and the springs on their way to the Chatauqua it became the place to be seen.





















In 1892 when the flood washed flotsam, out buildings and lean-tos into the tight bend of Sager Creek right atop Twin Springs the log jam pushed the water towards the center of town, flooding buildings and creating an island of inaccessible and unwanted real estate in the center of town. In 1911 the city purchased the “Isle of Patmos” and with in-fill and improved drainage created a community park with a gazebo, pathways, benches, and Airdome theater. A limestone dam was constructed across Sager Creek to create a natatorium or public swimming pool and a two-story bathhouse was built with changing rooms, boat rental and concessions on the first floor and quarters for the caretaker and his family upstairs. The most creative touches include a circular flower garden, a statue commerating the Grand Army of the Republic and a large fountain. The fountain built in 1913 had long become entangled in vines when in 1936 it was rebuilt by the National Youth Administration (NYA), a New Deal program that gave youths summer jobs. The current fountain is modeled after the NYA fountain. Twin Springs were highly regarded as one of the best medicinal watering holes in the town and a nearby plaque denotes Twin Springs – “Indian Healing Springs” -- as being the epicenter of the city’s first medical center dating to the 1800s. The author offers nothing in support of this assertion as none of the earliest physicians in Siloam Springs -- J.T. Clegg, Dr. W. G. Blake J. R. Runyon and G. W. Jackson had any proclivities in prescribing the use of the springs. A sanitarium was constructed east of Twin Springs by Dr. H. M. Blumenthal sometime after 1902; however, he was a “manipulator specialist” and scorned the use of medicine. Even if not fully embraced by the local medical community water from the springs was frequently advised for diabetics and people suffering from airway and sinus congestion. It was evident from testimonials that despite their close proximity to each other the two springs had distinct medicinal and mineral properties. It was claimed that the water from one of the springs was strongly tinctured with arsenic and was useful in the treatment of stomach ailments. A few steps aways to the south of Twin Springs and north of the Arts Cente is a small undeveloped chalybeate spring, Teague Spring. Siloam Springs (Old Mayfield) Once known as the Old Mayfield Spring, Siloam Springs flowed from a small cave on the underside of a rocky bluff of Carboniferous chert and limestone on the south bank of Sager Creek. The natural beauty of the spring was chiefly obliterated around 1882 when the entire face of the bluff was walled up with cut limestone so that the water was delivered through three small conduits. The wall was quite substantial and with enclosed culverts and recessed archways but was heavily damaged in the flood of 1892. The new wall built in 1897 to replace the old wall lacked the architectural detail and flourish of its predecessor but has withstood numerous floods over the years.

















A reserve was set aside adjoining Siloam Springs when the original town was plated and a limestone dam constructed to create a spring-fed lake where people could fish and boat-ride in summer. The splash of the rushing waters over the dam could be heard along the streets and from the balconies of the hotels. From the north bank of Sager Creek a concrete footbridge provided access to the Siloam Springs and to a shaded foot path known as Lover’s Lane that ascended the hill to the south of the springs and afforded views of the town and stream below. A Queen Anne-style gazebo was built across the creek from the spring around 1895 and restored to its original appearance in 1989. Named after the Biblical “pool of Siloam”, Siloam Springs was thought to possess medical properties because of its distinctive taste. One early visitor reported that Siloam Spring produced the “only water in Arkansas that tastes like medicine”. Surprisingly, chemical analysis of the water revealed very few impurities (<8 grains per gallon). Additionally the water was promoted as “pure water” and thus capable of flushing disease-causing impurities and toxins from the body. At one time half of the population drew its water from Siloam and Twin Springs with Siloam being preferred for offering a great quantity of fresh water (375,000 gallons per day). Today the water is posted as unfit for human consumption by order of the health department. Spout Spring This small spring issues from the left bank of Sager creek and is enclosed by stack rock and concrete to emerge from a small portal. A wide buttress of concrete prevents the creek from undercutting the spring and provides a flat perch for standing and accessing the spring on the otherwise steep hillside. The water flows from its small catchment pool along a narrow concrete trough across the perch before cascading over the lip to Sager Creek below. The water of which is said to be readily affected by rainfall – more so than the other springs -- suggests a shallow recharge basin prone to surface contamination. A visit to Spout Springs was made more special as it usually mandated a crossing of Sager Creek by a hanging bridge whose concrete footings are still visible today.























Seven (Sisters) Springs Many residents living in Hico on the ridge north of Siloam Springs gathered their water from the Seven Sisters Springs – a few small springs found on the southeast bank of Sager’s Creek. These springs affectionally called the "Sisters” were once gracefully tiled, walled in and covered – by 1952 they had been chiefly obliterated due to construction of the Tahlequah bridge and other development. Iron Spring Once proclaimed to be one of the best chalybeate springs in the state Iron Spring can’t compete with other chalybeate springs in the state in presentation, volume, taste or medicinal properties. Little was ever done to improve this chalybeate spring and during wet periods the adjoining grounds were often turned to mud making the water unfit to use. Box Spring Approximately a mile northeast of Siloam Springs town center there is a large spring that is the perrenial source of Sager’s Creek and the site of Simon Sager’s home after moving there in 1844. Albeit never reputed to have any medicinal properties this spring was the city’s water source for several years. During the 1930s the springs also supported a herd of Buffalo, Today the spring is a “water hazard” within the Siloam Springs Country Club. The water at Siloam Springs wasn’t heavily infused with minerals nor did it possess any special physical attributes to distinguish it from any other water from any other spring. The water was only prescribed for drinking and thus there were never any bath houses or water cure practitioners at Siloam Springs. Moreover, economic endeavors in agriculture and manufacturing quickly dwarfed tourism. The trains coming and going from Siloam Springs carried far more apples, strawberries, chickens, canned goods and produce than tourists and health seekers. Similarly the timber cut from the Illinois River valley to clear the land for farming was shipped far and wide. Local businesses had little desire to appeal to the infirm, preferring merchants and vendors over the sick and dying, while the town fathers and city council found that agricultural and manufacturing yielded far greater tax receipts than tourism. Upon the founding of John Brown University in 1919 the community pretty well ceased is promoting itself as a health resort. Today the springs serve chiefly as a backdrop for photos, weddings and grinning smiles.