Each day following the discovery Dr. Jackson rode horseback from his home at Rock Spring and filled his saddlebags with bottles of water from the healing spring. His son bathed his eyes in this water and they healed rapidly. Then the doctor began peddling the water to neighboring towns in Arkansas and Missouri, selling it under the label, “Dr. Jackson’s Eye Water.”
When the Civil War broke out Dr. Jackson refused to take sides. He established a hospital in the Old Rock House that had been a hunter’s rendezvous for many years, and built a crude cabin on the bluff above it. It was open to all who needed treatment, but patronized largely by disabled Confederate soldiers. When the battle of Pea Ridge was fought twenty miles away in March 1862, this rustic hospital was overcrowded. (The Old Rock House may be seen today at the rear of Ray Harris’ Feed Store at the junction of Spring and Main Streets, Eureka Springs. The Everett Wheeler home is at the site of Jackson’s cabin.)
The old Rock House was both hospital and bath house. The doctor took hogsheads and split them into halves for bath tubs. He ordered his patients to drink the spring water until it ran out of their mouths.
Cora Pinkley Call, in her book “Stair-Step Town,”[7] tells how the curative waters of the old Indian Healing Spring were heralded to the world and how it brought thousands of people from all parts of the United States to use the water for drinking and bathing. Judge L. B. Saunders, of the Indian Territory, had moved his family to Berryville in the seventies in order that his son, Burton, might attend Clark Academy. The judge had a leg sore that doctors had pronounced incurable. He was a friend of Dr. Alvah Jackson and frequently hunted with him. The doctor invited the judge to try the water at the Indian Spring for his leg. A cabin was erected at the site and the Saunders family spent several weeks there. The judge’s leg was healed and he was so enthusiastic about it that he spread the news to other parts of the country. Health seekers began to arrive at the wilderness mecca, living in their covered wagons or putting up tents. By July 1, 1879 there were about twenty families camping near the healing spring.
Health Seekers Camped at the Basin Spring in July, 1879
V
THE STORY OF MAJOR COOPER[8]
Major J. W. Cooper was a plantation pioneer in Texas. He had taken part in the Revolution of the forties and then settled down to grow cotton and raise cattle on his vast acreage. Sometime before the mid-century he made a trip to northwest Arkansas and spent some time exploring a section of what is now Benton and Carroll counties. He liked the country, observed the vast stand of virgin timber, and decided to locate there. In 1852 he sold his Texas holdings and started the long trek north.
The trip from south Texas to northwest Arkansas occupied ten years. He had a large strongly built wagon with heavy wheels made of bois d’arc wood which was pulled by giant oxen. He owned sixteen head, eight being used to pull the wagon and eight in reserve. The yokes used on these steers were of immense size. About a dozen Negro slaves accompanied the bachelor Major on this trip.
The reason for the long time occupied in travel was due to sickness of the slaves. They were plagued with malaria; several of them died. Because of this condition the major traveled slowly and camped for long periods along the way.