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is an unusual geographical mix—a highly developed park in a small city surrounded by low-lying mountains with abundant flowers and animals. Hot Springs Reservation was set aside on April 20, 1832, by the Federal Government to protect the 47 hot springs flowing ....

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.... an average rate of 850,000 gallons a day. For Indians, the Hot Springs was a neutral ground where different tribes came to hunt, trade and bathe in peace. Tradition has 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 Presiden ....