Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net The Eureka Springs Story BY Otto Ernest Rayburn DIAMOND JUBILEE EDITION 1954 Drawings by Gloria Morgan Bailey Original Printing by THE TIMES-ECHO PRESS Eureka Springs, Arkansas Second Printing, 1982, by Wheeler Printing, Inc. Eureka Springs, Arkansas To my friend SAM A. LEATH who has served Eureka Springs as guide and historian for more than a half century. I LEGENDS OF THE MAGIC HEALING SPRINGS Legendary lore concerning the visitation of northern Indian tribes to what is now Eureka Springs, Arkansas is badly mixed and it is difficult to separate truth from fiction. It is difficult to prove the authenticity of a legend. The stories we hear may have original pedigree or they may be mere fabrications by imaginative writers. In history, we have something to tie to, but this is not always the case with traditional lore that is handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. It may be true or it may be a hoax. Tribal lore from the Indians themselves is usually accepted as authentic for the redman was noted for his veracity and had the habit of repeating the tale without variation, but in recent years numerous legends have been “cooked up” by white men and passed off as legitimate tradition. Stories are told that the Indians never heard of. The reliable legends are those that come from the Indians themselves, properly documented.